Zhen Liu stared up at the familiar black iron gates and thick brick walls that kept the manor of the Marquis de Howlite's separate from the rest of the city, a grim look upon his face. The Razor Maiden on the other hand started to poke at the walls, a feeling of vague curiosity radiating from the connection.
Zhen Liu had suspicions that whoever kidnapped Jin Fang and Alicia was probably just the pawn to a bigger player, what with the creepy black uniforms and strange coordinated movements, but a small part of him hoped that the bigger player wasn't the Marquis de Howlite.
This desire stemmed from not only him thinking it would be a bit cliche that the creepy rich dude was actually evil, but also that he really, really didn't want to fight him.
Not only was there a big power level disparity he didn't want to deal with, but he was also eighty percent sure that the Marquis' fighting style was probably going to be incredibly gross and/or creepy.
'The man collects taxidermied animals with their hearts missing, I'm pretty sure he's cultivating a death aether formula or something involving bones or blood or... something. Probably gonna yell about the "elegance of death", the "beauty of the bones" or some stupid thing like that,' Zhen Liu thought to himself as he tried to psyche himself up before going inside.
Sometimes in life, one has to mock the horribleness they're about to face in order to face it head on.
He was still terrified though.
"Alright Razor Maiden, I'm going to need you to cut down this-"
"Ladder."
"Huh?
"Ladder," the Razor Maiden repeated while scratching at the wall for emphasis.
Zhen Liu didn't see anything at first, but decided to walk over to get a closer look at what the Razor Maiden was scratching at.
"What the hell?"
It took him a while to figure out what he was looking at, but there was indeed a "ladder".
Several of the bricks in the wall were jutting out of alignment, not enough to arouse suspicion, but just enough that one could reasonably climb up the wall using them as leverage and a makeshift ladder.
A thoughtful look formed on Zhen Liu's face.
'There's no way this was intentional...right?'
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Hours before the circus fire incident
After making his transaction with the Marquis, Draigo did not immediately bee-line to the nearest bar or tavern to get drunk. Instead, he found a shady alcove near the estate and began to stake out the site.
As Draigo stared at the iron gates of the Marquis' manor, a look of resolution began to form on his face.
Something very precious, that belonged to someone who was very important to him, was currently locked in a cellar and displayed like a grotesque trophy. He didn't want to know the how and why it was there, he just knew he wanted, no, needed it back.
Draigo was so determined to get back that shamisan, that he sat in that alcove for hours, waiting for the perfect opportunity to break in. He waited for so long that for the first time in years, he was sober.
For hours he waited for the perfect opportunity to break in, and just as the sun was about to set, his chance finally came.
From the other side of the iron gate, a maid and a butler made their exit and began to walk towards where the circus was putting on their performance for the evening. As far as Draigo, and anyone he ever talked to knew, the Marquis maintained only those two staff members in his retinue. While Draigo wasn't sure why the Marquis would send them out for the evening, he didn't care.
As soon as the two of them were out of sight, Draigo moved as quickly and quietly as he could over to the estate's entrance, where he attempted to open the gate.
"Bah! Of course they locked it," Draigo muttered, "Hmmm...Haven't done this in a while, but maybe..."
Draigo walked away from the gate until he found a decent spot on the brick wall that surrounded the estate. Once he was in position, he began to circulate his aether into his palm...with some difficulty.
'Bleh, was my aether always this sluggish? It is true what they say...well, I at least got enough power for this.'
Once he had enough power stored in his palm, Draigo slammed it against the brick wal, sending a shockwave of power into it and shaking loose a lot of dust. As a result of the blow, several bricks began to jut out to form a ladder-like pattern.
"Alright, let's go," Draigo told himself before climbing up the newly made ladder.
It was a bit tricky given his weight, but he was determined.
"Just a little bit longer Wyvara... I'll get it back..."
_________________________________________________
Back in the present
"Okay, Razor Maiden, get small."
"Aye."
At Zhen Liu's command, the originally six feet tall ballerina of blades had shrunk back down to a slightly easier to carry doll mode. Zhen Liu proceeded to carefully place the doll into his backpack and prepared himself to climb the brick ladder.
Once he was in position, Zhen Liu began the careful process of climbing the makeshift ladder.
'Bleh. Whoever made this had sticky hands or something,' Zhen Liu mentally griped while climbing the ladder.
'See I could do that, but my ability to land and jump with said enhanced strength makes me about as subtle as a freight train," Zhen Liu retorted, "So unless I can make a kaijin that can manipulate air or make me stealthy, I am stuck doing it myself and being careful about it."
With his brainmate now silent, Zhen Liu made his way to the top of the wall with relative ease-ish.
Out of curiosity, he looked down the other side, and was greeted with the sight of another makeshift ladder.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Zhen Liu made his way down this set of bricks.
'Huh...Wonder if the guy who did this managed to get out of the manor in one piece...'
_________________________________________________
"What the fuck?! Where did it go?!," Draigo quietly hissed.
The old bard had managed to make his way back to the cellar, after getting lost in the Marquis' Manor for a spell, but was now enraged.
When he returned to the spot in the cellar where his beloved friend's shamisan should have been, there was nothing but empty space.
Draigo was about to rampage right there and then, and undoubtedly get caught, when a familiar sound as a quiet as a whisper began to tickle his ears.
"This melody...it's over here?"
Compelled by the sound, Draigo attempted to find it.