Their long coats billowed in the wind.
Sebastian and Alistaire were rarely ever home. Since their sister's disappearance, they had dedicated most of their time to tracking down every lead they could find. Mercenary contracts helped them earn some money while continuing their search.
Constantly.
Day after day.
Without stopping.
Every lead.
Every clue.
Several times, the Seraphy army had used them, claiming their sister's disappearance was connected to the case. And several times, they had lied.
They had begun to lose hope.
So when the admiral once again claimed to have proof of their sister's involvement, Archibald's blood boiled.
But the moment he held the photo in his hands, his heart skipped a beat.
It was Alice! He was sure of it!
Was he really sure, or had he hoped for so long that his judgment had been clouded? He had no idea. But if there was even the slightest chance that the universe had allowed his little sister to survive, then he would go and find her and bring her back safely. No matter who stood in his way.
Be it a police officer, an army, a country, a nation… a god.
"That's right, ma'am, we'd like you to identify where this photo was taken."
Sebastian was speaking to a fortune teller through a window stall on the street.
The elderly woman reached through a gap beneath the grate and took the photo. Then, she disappeared to the back of her shop.
Sebastian never really knew what she did with the pictures he gave her, but Madame Selina had always managed to meet their requests.
The two brothers often turned to her when they were stuck tracking a fugitive. She could read information no one else could see—hidden in images, smells, or water.
She was a woman who liked to say that everything left a trace in this world. You just had to know where to look.
A few minutes later, she returned with the photo and a small piece of paper on which an address had been scribbled.
"Thank you, Madame Selina, truly."
The woman smiled from behind her mask.
"It's nothing. After all the time you've spent talking to me about her… I hope I get the chance to meet her someday."
She disappeared behind the curtain, which fell back over the stall window.
"Where are we going?"
"Uruk."
An exasperated look formed on Alistaire's face.
"No kidding… Only those Urukian hicks build their villages underground."
"The capital," Sebastian replied, carefully tucking the photo and address into the inner pocket of his coat.
Alistaire shrugged and followed his brother.
***
The station was crowded, but fortunately, most of the people were waiting on the platforms, and they quickly made it to a ticket booth.
A mustachioed man in his fifties wearing a monocle stood before them.
Sebastian pulled out his wallet.
"Two tickets to Albedia, please."
The man typed something into his mechanical keyboard and then looked up.
"120 pence."
Alistaire watched as his brother emptied his wallet and pulled out 110 pence. He also noticed the panicked look on his face as he searched for the last ten.
Sebastian nervously plunged his hands into his coat pockets. He finally found ten pence and proudly placed them on the counter.
The man with the monocle gave him a strange look, as if to say that simply having enough money wasn't something to be proud of, then handed over two thick-paper tickets.
"I didn't know you were carrying that much money."
A grin formed on Sebastian's face.
"I was saving it in case an opportunity like this came up."
Alistaire chuckled quietly.
He had never taken any means of transport other than horse-drawn carriages. He and his brother were far from wealthy. So when he approached the sheer size of the airship, his eyes were filled with admiration.
Sebastian and he walked toward the sign that read "Albedia" and queued up on the staircase.
Soon, a massive dirigible docked into the hangar, its hollow floor allowing the enormous balloon to settle close to the ground.
The doors opened to let passengers off, and the line began to move. Finally, it was Sebastian and Alistaire's turn.
Alistaire stepped into the aircraft, crossing the gap between the platform and the airship's threshold.
You'd think such a massive vehicle capable of bearing so much weight would be extremely heavy, but when Alistaire placed his second foot inside, the whole structure tilted ever so slightly.
He shivered.
Sebastian guided his brother toward the third-class seats. Though cheap, they offered large windows and more than enough space for comfort.
These airships had become the main mode of transport in Seraphy, and the company operating them could afford to make life easier for less wealthy passengers. That was a quality Sebastian respected.
The craft remained stationary for about an hour before the captain made an announcement.
The engine creaked, and the propellers on the sides began to spin.
They quickly rose into the sky.
From above, everything looked smaller. Seraphy's capital—renowned as the most beautiful city in the world, the pride of its monarch—looked modest from such an altitude.
***
"Enter!"
Admiral Ashcombe walked into the large office, drenched in sweat. Unlike his own, this one
had a balcony, and the uniform of the general occupying it bore numerous medals.
The admiral snapped to attention in a formal salute before relaxing.
"Do you have any idea why I called you here?"
Ashcombe looked around the room for something that might help him, then gave up under the general's intense stare.
"N-No…"
The general cracked his knuckles. "Of course you don't…"
He stood and began to circle the admiral.
As he spoke, his tone escalated to a shout midway through his sentence.
"Could you explain what the hell you were thinking, lying to the Chronwell brothers‽"
The windows shook.
"With all due respect, General, I thought it would be best to get them off our backs by making them believe their sister was across the border."
The general, clearly fed up with his subordinate's stupidity, was now shouting at full volume.
"Oh, brilliant idea… And what do you think is going to happen when they find out we're the ones holding their sister‽"
"Well, we are the military stronghold of the nation, and—"
The general burst out laughing.
"You really think an army like ours could stop them? You're insane! The only being who could have rivaled them died forty years ago."
He approached the admiral and pressed a pointed finger against his chest.
"If you think you're the predator—believe me—you're about to learn what it means to be the prey."