After returning from the hollow, all of us soon entered the store with different expressions.
Hecate and Crache wore their signature neutral looks, while I had exhaustion was on my face, Belle was the only one who wore a happy look on her face.
Because in her hands was a small amount of dennies in her hands, and she was tossing them up and down.
"Wise, we're back!" She said and began to skip upstairs, Hecate herself soon ran towards me with her fists drawn back, and she soon threw it at me..
However, it soon stopped a few inches away from my body, and we only stared at one another.
"If it weren't for these shackles, I would love to break a bone or two." She said with a strained smile and pulled back.
"So, how was it?" She huffed while returning to the counter, I only walked next to her and leaned on the counter.
"Boring, to say the least, well, except near the end." Hella raised her brow when I mentioned the end, and was suddenly curious.
"Oh? Then, do tell, what was so interesting about that?" She had the strained smile on her face again, while er eyes showed her emotion on wanting me dead.
"There was a rat thiren that caught up to us when we tried to escape, besides that, nothing else." I replied, Hella hummed at my answer, nut then scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Oh? What was she like?" Her smile became more strained and she looked like she was about to try to hit me.
"Imagine Bai Yi, flirtatious yet dangerous." Hearing that, Hella only shuddered at the thought.
"Some hot chick that flirts but has ulterior motives, guess you did me a favor then." She muttered, the front door then opened, and the both of us wore smiles to look presentable.
However, we soon saw it was Nicole, followed by Neokamata in tow. Seeing the both of them, we dropped the formal look, and sighed.
"Nekomata, Nicole, what brings you here this time?" I asked the both of them, Nekomata approached the counter with a bounce in her steps, and plopped her arms on the counter, while she held her head up with her hands.
"Welll, I wanted to continue on listening about the valentine incident, but Nicole came here for a different reason." She pouted and sent a look of annoyance to Nicole
"Hmph, I'm just here to deliver the good news." She said and placed her suitcase on the counter, close to where Nekomata was.
She then shoved her to the side and raised the latches, once the suitcase had opened, a large stack of papers jumped up, with a few of the papers flying up.
"How much space is in this thing?" Hella asked, staring at the papers that were floating back down on the stack.
"Don't ask." She said abruptly, she then changed her attitude into a more professional one, and somehow pulled out a pair of glasses out of the case.
"Now then, I was able find a good amount of locations within the city that can house you three and the sinners you mentioned, and I was hoping we could go see them today." I was flipping through the papers, and was interested in some of them.
"That's fine, but can we do it tomorrow, I'm a bit exhausted from the hollow dive we had to do." I said, Nekomata soon stood next to me with concern.
"What happened, are you okay?" She asked me, I only smiled and gently patted her head, moving my fingers behind her ears and gently scratching them.
"It's nothing much, it was a quick rescue mission, that's all." I reassured her, she didn't respond, instead, she purred at my touch.
"Okay, if you say so." She then stood up and soon made her way to the door with the same pep in her step.
"C'mon Nicole, we have some time to get the shampoo you wanted, y'know, the one to prevent hair loss?" Nicole gasp in shock that she said that.
She wanted to retort her words, but Nekomata only stuck out her tongue and closed the door before she could say anything.
Nicole could only take a deep breath and compose herself, she then began to tuck the stack of papers back in her suitcase, and smiled at me.
"Alright, we'll pick you up tomorrow, does nine sound good?" She asked me, I nodded at the time she had suggested, she beamed that I had agreed and she soon made her way towards out the door.
"Alright, bye!" The door soon closed, and the three of us could hear her shouting, before her voice soon became distant.
"Well, that's some good news." We all turned to Wise, who came in with a box of new movie tapes, followed by Belle who looked a bit grumpy.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Hella crossed her arms with indifference, and looked away.
"Someone's been taking Belles snacks, and left the garbage in her room." Hearing this, almost everyone in the room shifted our visions towards Hella.
She began to sweat at the subtle accusation, but she didn't reply, instead she tried to laugh it off.
"A-ahaha, m-maybe you guys have a rat problem?" She asked while feigning ignorance.
However, Belle noticed on what she was trying to do, and was the fist to reach it, blocking her path to escape.
"Oh no you don't you're gong to pay me back every single cent I spent on buying them!" She then pounced towards Hella, who dodged to the side and tried to run towards the back.
Only to see Wise blocking her path, with both paths now blocked, she made the decision to run upstairs.
"She might jump out your window, Wise." I said, and it didn't take long for the sounds of panic to be heard.
"Huh, you were right." He said, and we all heard Hella laughing from outside.
"No once can detain me!" She had her face against the display window and had a smug grin on her face.
Belle then shouted and threw the door open, and began to chase Hella all over sixth street, while the three of us stared at them running two and fro.
"So, how long until your sister tires herself out?" I asked Wise, who pulled out his phone and looked at the time.
"Giver three…" Belle then passed by, holding a metal pipe, swinging it at Hella, who laughed at her.
"Five, five hours until she gets tired." We then returned back inside to continue working, with Belle shouting and chasing Hella outside.
After the time had passed, and the sun began to disappear, Hella and Belle came back inside.
However, I saw that both of them had snacks in their arms. Looking at this, I reached into my pants to check if my wallet was their.
"Sorry Eros, Hella convince me to steal your wallet." Belle said and had her fist again her head, with her winking and sticking her tongue out.
Instead of being mad, I only smiled and shook my head. Belle then placed a small pile of snacks in front of me, but barely looked at me.
"For the trouble." Was all she said and soon rushed up stairs, followed by Hella and Hecate.
Looking at the small pile in front of me, I grabbed what looked like a small popsicle and saw that it was chocolate flavored.
Once I opened it and took a small bite, I tasted chocolate, followed by the taste of vanilla.
Once I took the first bite, I made my way to the door and locked it, making sure both locks are secured.
However, I didn't move away from the door, instead, I looked outside and stared at the sky.
As I stood their, I had thoughts about the time I've spent here with Wise, Nicole, Nekomata, Anby, Billy, and Belle.
Each and everyone one of them were more calm and excited for the day, no worries in their faces, nor caution written on their faces.
It was peaceful, something I wasn't comfortable with. However, I soon got rid of the thought and made my way to the staff room to sleep in for the night.
[Awww, don't worry chief, I'll make some trouble for you soon. Hihihihihi.]
After preparing myself for the trip, with the three sinners in tow, we all stood in the back parking lot, waiting for Nicole to arrive.
"So, when is the broke bimbo, arriving? It's half past nine." Hecate said while munching on a snack.
"I don't know, then again, you guys shouldn't expect her to keep her words, you saw the online reviews, right Eros?" Belle asked me, she was typing on some hand held console.
"Wow, way to defend her ey Tinker Belle?" Hella mocked her, causing Belle to look up from her game and narrow her eyes at her.
(A/N: Small theory of mine, but I think the Ptn universe is like ours, only, we don't face the mania and corruptores every day. Could be wrong.)
"Hey, I don't leave my stuff around the store!" Belle said, trying to defend herself from the accusations.
"Your room tells another story." Belle couldn't refute Hella's words, because she knew it was true.
I soon felt my phone buzz and soon took it out, looking at it, I saw it was a message from Nicole.
"What's the bimbo saying?" I the sound of a car horn was heard, and we all turned to look at Nicole, slamming her hand on the horn.
"Open the door ya damn child!" She shouted at Hella, who growled in return and made her way towards the fence, she then grabbed the chain that held the fence closed, and pulled.
Snapping the chain and flinging the two fence doors wide open, Hecate had to send in nightmare to pin her on the ground.
But since we were outside the hollow, it looked like she tripped and lost her motor function to move her body.
"Oh, seems the little baby hasn't had her nighty night." Nicole had exited her car while she mocked her, holding her hand in front of her mouth.
"Gh, seems the bimbo hasn't had her daily supply cocks." Both Belle and Nicole widened their jaw at Hellas counter, shocked to hear what she said.
"What, to embarrassed to admit it? I bet all the guys love filling all your Holes!" She said with a large grin.
I only sighed in annoyance and made my way to her, once I had looked at her, she kept her lips tightly shut.
"One more, give me one more reason to toss out your snacks." I warned her, I then turned to Nicole and held her hand.
"I'm sorry about her. Please don't let this affect our relationship." I gave her an apologetic smile.
Seeing this, Nicole turned to the side, but glanced at me. At the same time, she began to twirl her hair with her finger.
"I-it's nothing, your not the one to blame." She said, and a faint red tint began to form on her face.
"A-anyways, get in the car, I want you to see the locations before the day ends." She said and made her way back inside the car.
As she closed the door, shut, I had signaled Hecate to let Hella go, after nightmare had moved away, me, Hecate, Hella, and Crache entered the car.
"Bye, have a safe trip!" Belle shouted and waved as she saw us leave, but then turned towards the now broken chain.
"Man, this is coming out of my allowance next month." Her body was slumped forward, and had a shadow on her face.
"Damn you Hella, damn you." Her eyes were hollow, and she walked back inside the store like a puppet.
As we explored the first house, it was bright, too bright for Crache. She held her hand over her face during the entire tour, while her eyes were narrowed.
"As you can see, this house has thirty bedrooms, and has enough space to house two people.' Nicole explained and opened one of the rooms.
Looking inside, it was a one hundred by one fifty square feet, just enough to fit two people inside.
"It even has a large study area, so that you can have peace and quiet while you work on your papers, doesn't that sound nice?" She then led us two said study room.
Inside, was as large room with multiple shelves that covered the walls, and in between two of the shelves was a large desk.
"Not only that, this place even has an outdoor swimming pool in case you want to have that nice tan during the summer." Nicole then made her way to one of the widows and parted one of the curtains, showing us a large swimming pool.
"Isn't it such a perfect place to stay in? You can have the privilege to enjoy the luxury this house has to offer." She widened her arms, motioning the building.
"No thanks, this place looks nice, but I'm not forcing Eros to carry a large debt just to give us comfort." Hella crossed her arms and shook her head.
"I hate it, it's way too bright, and not a lot of places are good to take a nap." Crache stated her opinion and soon made her way back tío the car.
"Besides their opinions, I would have to turn down the offer as well, I'm not looking for a place to seek comfort, I want a place to not only serve as a base, but a place to house each sinner and make them feel safe, not pampered." Nicole then sat on the edge on one of the window frames and began to hum to herself.
"I got, I just know the place on where you can set up your base." She said with a smile.
[Ohohoho, seems something interesting is about to happen, let's see where she is taking him… oh? Hahahahaha! This girl may be reliable, guess she is something else than being shameless.]
Nicole soon drove us to an area a that was looking run down, and the deeper she drove, the more the place looked run down.
"Hey, big bimbo, where are you taking us?" Crache asked, while staring outside.
"The perfect place on where you guys can stay in." She said, I looked outside and soon saw less and less people, it was as if people were avoiding this place on purpose.
"Did something happen here?" I asked, Nicole didn't glance at me, but she nodded her head at my question.
"Strange things have been happening ever since Anby and Billy found you, things that can be considered supernatural." Her voice was turning grim as she began to explain.
"What kind of supernatural?" I asked her, matching the tone of her voice.
"Some people have been going missing in this area, and yet, the only thing that some people could find was either a small belonging, or a small doll of said victim." My jaw tightened at what she said.
But before I could delve into the thought, we soon stopped in front of an abandoned building, one that is made of metal.
Looking at it, it was three stories high, with the metal slowly turning to rust, and the scent of iron wafted into our noses, it felt as if we were back in the rust.
It felt as if we were back home, back in the rust, with the sounds of corrupters screaming and roaring towards us, with their mutated hands wanting to tear us.
"Enough with the horror story, want to see whats inside?" Nicoles voice snapped us out of our thought, and struggled to push open two large metal doors, yet they barely budge.
Hella then shoved her to the side, and pressed her hands against the cool metal, pushing the two doors with all her might.
The hinges that held the door up, began to groan from the force of bing opened after so long.
Once the doors have been fully opened, the building was somehow in somewhat good condition, the floors and walls were covered in dust, with small bits of the ceiling slowly breaking.
"What is this place?" I asked, stepping inside the building that was ONG forgotten.
"This was an old research center that used to study the ether." She gently placed her hand on one of the walls, staring at it with sadness.
"It was abandoned ever since the old Eredu fell, and now, it's collecting some dust." She walked forward, dragging her hand across the dusty walls.
"What caused Eredu to fall?" I asked, she then stopped and barely glanced at me, but shook her head.
"That's not my story to tell, only Belle and Wise know, since they were there." She said and continued to walk inside the building.
As the four of us walked deeper inside, we saw multiple worn down furniture, some parts of the wall were broken, and the sound of rats scuttling across the floor was heard.
"I'll admit, feels like home, if you ignore the rats and holes, other than that, yeah." Hella was the first to speak.
"I like it, a lot of shadows, perfect to hide." Crache muttered while looking around.
"Careful not to cut yourself with that edge." Nicole commented, hiding her mouth with her hand.
"Then don't be walking outside like some dirt cheep whore." Crache countered easily, causing Nicole to stumble forward.
"I am not a whore!" Nicole spun around and pointed her finger at Crache.
"You're right. You're more of a reject, can't even get the director to look at your broke body, bet even those flesh bags are fake." Crache then walked up to Nicole and poke one of her breasts.
"Never mind, this is the only thing that's real." Crache walked away and disappeared in the shadows.
"Why are kids so cruel?!" She knelt down and buried her face in her arms. I then knelt down and patted her back.
"Don't listen to her, you're a strong, independent woman, how about we keep looking around?" Nicole then wiped her eyes and looked at me with hope.
"Y-yeah, that'd be nice." She stood up and clung to my arm, sniffling as the both of us walked through the building.
"Besides, I think your a beautiful woman, I bet a lot of men would love to be your partner." I said with a kind smile.
Caught off guard by my compliment, she looked to the side, and the red hue had returned to her face.
"E-even if they did, I'd charge them for being with me." Was all she said as we walked inside the building, our new base in this strange world.
[Damnit chief, whh did you have to be such a Casanova?! You should be focusing on me, me me me me me me! And the wisteria chick, she's okay, and the crazy bride woman. Anyways, send those power stones to show support, and leave a review if you like, bye bye!]
(A/N): Hey folks, author here, sorry for not posting two chapters last week, had an unexpected invite to a wedding for a friend, and I had to admit, it was beautiful, so sorry on that, peace