" Oh wow, what cute dresses!!" Valalee sighed in appreciation, her nose pressed up against the display case window. Her uncle Vallix was amazing with all of the beautiful clothes that he made. She wished that she could just wear the entire shop, rather than just the ones he made for her, or just the clothes in her size. She wanted the whole shop. But her Mom would never let her have that many clothes, no matter how cheap they got them because of the family discount. " Oh well," She muttered, moving away from the window. She briefly thought about going in to say hello to one of her favorite uncles, but she was already late for her swordsmenship classes (that was halfway across town), and decided against it, continuing down the street.
++ ORORO ++
However, only a few buildings aways from VallixM, a drug deal was going down in an alley way. " That's 1000ℬ, you son of a bitch, now pay up." Ororo threatened, stroking the tip of her switchblade against the man's throat. " You were late with your payment last time, you know he doesn't like that."
"Y-Yes m'am!" The frightened man stuttered, digging into his pocket for the Belzecash. Once she saw the money, Ororo backed off and allowed him to count his money properly. " Here!" He threw the money at her, which she gracefully caught in one hand and slipped it into her bag. Wordlessly, she took out the supply from the hidden pockets in her skirt and handed the small clear bag over to the man, giving him a hard look. He seemed to understand that their interaction was over and stumbled out of the alleyway in a hurry. On his way, he passed by a small girl who was standing at the entrance of the alley, glaring at Ororo with all of her might.
" Excuuuuuse me! Did I just see what I thought I saw?" The little girl said with a stong voice, but Ororo could tell that she wasn't as confident as she was making out to be, " Was that an illegal drug deal that just happened? I'll have you know that my mommy is a Knight, and I won't stand for this!"
Ororo wasn't intimidated by the girl and stared at her with disinterest, wondering where she had seen her before. Her mom was a Knight huh? And with pretty blonde hair like that, she must be a Mancini. They just keep popping up all over the place... The girl was still preaching by the time Ororo dashed towards her, swiftly hitting the back of her neck to knock her out and dragging her back into the safe darkness of the alley where they wouldn't be seen. She had orders from Tiaro that her deals must be kept a secret, at all costs, but they never really went over what should happen if a child witnessed it. Bringing this kid back to the Under seemed to be the best option for now anyway, Tiaro could figure out what to do with her.
She collected Valalee in her arms, removing the two small swords that were attached to her belt and threw them inside a trashcan, and went deeper into the alleyway, heading towards the tunnel to the Under.
From across the street, a pair of yellow eyes watched them with interest, but did nothing to stop the situation from happening. The baby strapped to her chest gurgled and Valancy smiled, turning away from the alley to focus on her daughter instead, " What should we eat for dinner today baby? What would Daddy like to eat, I wonder?"
++ BELVEDERE ++
"Wow!" Belvedere exclaimed, twirling the golden rose between his fingers, never getting the chance to see it so close. Oz only knows how long he and Bellarino had spent tormenting their stupid older brother about his little girlfriend dying or falling into a coma or whatever, and messing up this flower would out-do anything they had done before. He handed the rose back over to his twin and got off the bed, " Do you know where the golden idiot is now? How much time we have? Are the guard dogs going to be knocking down our door anytime soon? We need to destroy this thing fast, before they get their paws on it." He smiled gleefully, just imagining the rose lit with flames and the look that Bellerophon would have on his face.
Sadly, neither he or Bellarino knew enough magic to create fire spells -- why would they when they had other people to do it for them?? -- but they still had the tools. " There's a lighter around here somewhere..."
++ PEPPA JACK ++
" Ahahaha, you worry too much friend! Relax, relax, Peppa's got it all under control." He, himself, relaxed further into his seat and lit up a cigar, nodding to Jaycee when he asked about his knowledge of the Queen being poisoned. News traveled fast within the circle of nobles in the city and one of his Cupcakes had happened to overhear their conversation and she came to tell him. He was actually surprised that they had managed to get as far as the Queen and it made taking down Belzeneff seem obtainable. He came back to the conversation when Jaycee hurried out of the room and he was left with Seraphion, who went on to tell him about his meeting with the demon king.
" Good," Peppa smiled, absolutely serious for once as he ran his fingers across the mahogany desk, a gift he inherited from his father along with Candiland. This place was his home where he grew up with his parents and now that they had both left him, he felt especially protective of it because it was all he had left. When Seraphion's phone went off, he was prepared to give him some privacy to talk to his son but was equally surprised as his friend when he put the phone on speaker, saying that the matter concerned him too. He was immediately concerned at the mention of Noem, going as far as standing up from his seat and setting his cigar down, " Noem's getting executed? Those pathetic royal scum! They'll jump at any excuse to kill others!" Peppa never got this angry, not when Aelita got sent away, not when he got stabbed by one of his own workers, not even when his mother left him and got remarried. But whenever one of his precious Cupcakes or Enclaires were in danger, any kindness he had morphed into steel determination to fight and protect what was his. Peppa was so angry that he knocked over a stack of Belzacash on his way to grab the phone, taking it from Seraphion so he could hear Angiel better, " You won't be in trouble, correct?" he glanced at Seraphion, careful not to talk his son into anything that would indanger his life, " Peppa will have some of his best Cupcakes waiting for you nearby. Get Noem to them and they will disguise him and transport him here. Peppa Jack will never turn away from one of his own."
