As the rest of the group continued in their citywide investigation, Thames remained in his room, beginning to paint. He gathered his supplies and set up his easel, occasionally pausing to listen in to idle chatter from the street.
Other than that, he also occasionally listened in on the talking from the inn, but both were equally pointless, providing him no meaningful knowledge on Ariao.
So, there's an heiress in town...
He thought as he sat down on a stool, facing a blank canvas.
He already had an idea for what to draw, though, and quickly began, first sketching with his pencil.
He immediately outlined a javelin, so huge that it took up nearly the whole medium sized canvas. Then, he drew a small crack above it, with small penciled in stars above it.
Standing back to look at it from afar momentarily, he put the pencil back behind his ear and dabbed a brush in a mixture of black and dark blue, painting a background around the javelin.
Thames quickly, but precisely, rinsed his brush and covered it in a silvery white paint, carefully painting the javelin.
The light spear was simple in shape, but he also drew an outline around it, intending to capture a sense of glowing. Satisfied with the state of the weapon, he painted a rift above it.
It was pure white, but had black dots within it, like static.
He then used pitch black paint to draw something similar to a slime reeling away from an attack, but around the javelin. It contrasted against the dark blue background just enough to be noticeable.
As a finishing touch, Thames painted small, but pretty, stars illuminated the top of the painting.
Done.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hm?
He quickly got up and opened the door, surprised to see Ode in the frame.
"Done already?"
"Yup!" He responded joyfully, entering the room without asking Thames.
Ode quickly sat on his bed, looking at the painting carefully.
"This is whatcha saw last night?"
"Yes. Do you recognize it?"
"Nope! 'Specially not bein' summoned from a thing like that!" He yelled, pointing towards the rift above the javelin.
"Did you find anything else out, Ode?" Thames asked uncomfortably, sitting down next to him.
"Well Gin and that unknown fella are definitely here! Accounting for Rubes' magic, I'm sensing three extras!"
"Three? Shouldn't it be two?" His sleepy eyes growing wider as he asked nervously.
"Yup! Which means either one of 'em got an ally! Or we got five Constellations in one city!"
This is going to turn to a mess. Rubes and Ode are strong enough together, but with three variables Lin and I would be in danger.
"Any word on Gin's location at least?"
"Nah, he's hidin' somewhere. Lin or Rubes might find somethin' out."
Thames nodded in agreement, then lied back on the bed, resting for a moment.
Ode quickly joined him, also lying back and looking to his side at Thames.
"So! Got a name for the painting?"
"Gods Spear."
Ode whistled in response, clearly amused as they both let outside chatter fill the room.
"Been practicin' your magic?"
"What? Oh. Yeah, I used teleport to get to you."
"Cool, cool! Thanks for helpin' me with that."
"Anytime, Ode."
***
The creaky carriage wheels finally stopped, and Fredrick quickly left, entering the streets of Lino.
It was dotted in snow, the air was frigid but welcoming, and the streets lacked crowds. It was the same as when he left it.
Fredrick was born and raised in Lino, eventually leaving his family to work as a carriage driver for the Tower Association. Surprisingly, his job didn't change much after the Lino Incident, but he did visit Lino less, everyone did.
Watching the carriage leave, he turned down a small street, keeping his hands in his pockets.
He was wearing shabby, but warm, clothes. His leather long coat was stained in oil and his pants were roughed up, but he was content with it.
Finally, he reached his home, and quickly noticed the door was slightly ajar, immediately on edge.
He felt the air was strange too, although normally unwelcoming, it was a sort of aggression he could only recognize as magical.
Despite not being a magician himself, due to his proximity to Ode and other power magicians he quickly grew somewhat used to it. It wasn't a rare occurrence; in fact, this was how most magician families were created.
Fredrick, however, did not hail from one of these families, and was just mildly sensitive to magic.
"Odd."
He grumbled, scratching his chin and drawing a dagger and rudimentary gun from his waist before continuing.
Almost instantly, a black blob leaped at him, but he quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding its sharp claws.
"What the fuck?!?" He yelled out pointing the firearm at the creature which was slowly recovering.
Is that an Emergent???
Bang!
The single-shot gun echoed through the dark home, going straight through the foot tall creature, causing it to spread along the ground like slime.
Slowly, it sank into the dusty floorboards, vanishing completely from Fredricks sight.
Had a feeling something was happening... Where is everyone? He asked himself while reloading his gun.
He attempted to activate a nearby oil lamp, but it appeared to be dead. Just as he turned back towards the front door, it shut loudly.
"What?!"
He rushed towards it, attempting to open the door, but it was locked tight, not budging even an inch.
Turning around quickly towards the empty room, a pair of deep red eyes shined through the fog, focusing on Fredrick who was starting to panic.
"Who-?!"
Just as he yelled across, the person rushed him, going for his head with a punch, but he blocked with his right hand, stabbing down with his dagger towards the attacker's thigh.
Nicking them as they dodged quickly, he hastily pointed his gun towards the attacker's eyes, shaking and firing instantly.
Bang!
"[Freeze.]"
The person's womanly voice shook the room, freezing the bullet instantly and just before her eyes.
The gun had lightened up the room for just a moment, allowing Fredrick to see his attacker, but it didn't help with anything. He had no idea who this was!
Her violet eyes cut through her long black hair, and she appeared to be wearing a cloak. She had soft, yet commanding features with red lipstick and a slight amount of blush.
"Who're you?!?"
He yelled, throwing the dagger towards her, but she quickly dodged out of the way, pointing her finger towards Fredrick.
"[It doesn't matter.]"
The words, containing magic foreign to their meaning, caused Fredrick to vanish completely.