so give me a blanket for my cold, cold heart. Who: Audrey Leradine & Ofelia Zhou What: Regarding dragons, doves and ravens. Where: Ofelia’s office When: June 30th, around noon Rating: NR Status: Complete!
Audrey had arrived at the office earlier than the intended time. Unlocking the front door with her own key, she closed it behind her, doing the courtesy for Ofelia and locking it before continuing on through the office. Reaching one of the tables, she dropped some of her father’s files on the surface—files she could decipher as belonging or relating to the Thieves’ Guild and others she was sure Ofelia could make sense of.
The woman glanced up from her own stacks of paperwork, an eyebrow arching. She was evidently unsurprised by the ninja’s appearance, but curiosity piqued by the files: Ofelia reached out for it like a child might for candy, utterly unable to resist.
“So what’s going on?” she asked her protege, a finger already poised to flick open the file and start reading.
“Do you believe in seers?” Audrey started. Reaching for a nearby chair, she dragged it towards them as quietly as possible, taking a seat across Ofelia. “A young woman named Siri D’Albis sent me some messages. I’m unsure if you know of her, but Cian seems to keep her around for a reason.” As soon as she saw the woman get to a page of interest, her finger immediately pointed out the line as to cut her skimming time in half. “She told me things that only I know. Things that even Leila didn’t know. I don’t know how she knows those things, but I might be able to find out who killed my parents with that information. I just—is this crazy?”
“Siri D’Albis,” Ofelia repeated in a thoughtful undertone as she blinked down at the item of interest. “I do indeed know of her—I’ve compiled some notes on the girl for Cian, actually. What did she know that you and Leila didn’t?”
The mention of Leila still caused a small involuntary twinge in Fee’s chest, but it was smaller now, like a muscle spasm that eased slowly as the months went on.
“Demon masks,” she paused. “He had a demon mask, like those Ordalian ones. And,” she paused again, “Whoever broke into the estate that night, they burnt down the house. Siri made mention to these things. She couldn’t have known, everyone thinks.. or well, maybe thought it was just an accident.” Her secret was escaping her the more she shared it. “Maybe Leila knew, maybe that’s why she changed my name, but Siri couldn’t have known that.”
Ofelia’s lips pursed and she looked up from the notes. “I think it’s crazy, but it doesn’t mean, necessarily, that she isn’t right. I don’t know how it works but Cian’s practically buying stock in the girl, her premonitions have helped him out so much.”
Audrey sighed, pushing away from the table and turning her back to Ofelia. She held her hands behind her back, looking outside the nearest window. “Never trust black dragons wearing masks. That is how it all burnt down the first time. I won't warn you twice. Dragons with those masks. Ravens eat Doves for breakfast,” she repeated the words Siri had sent her. “I don’t know what to do with that information.”
It had seemed that her emotions caught up with her in one wave, as she turned around exasperated. “Ofelia, she told me I slay dragons.”
The words were garbled, a poetic mess. “It’s never easy,” the information broker sighed under her breath, before grabbing the nearest pen and quickly scrawling the message in her typical journalistic shorthand. She then stared down at the marks and lines, repeating the words to herself.
The prospect gave her chills, an uncomfortable little ripple down her spine.
“Black dragons,” Ofelia said in a strange voice, tight and thoughtful. “Are we thinking someone from the organisation, then?”
Audrey hugged her arms as if holding back a shiver. “The Sasaki-gumi, yeah.” Audrey had paused, staring at her feet before finally flicking her eyes up. “That would mean I’d have to confront Fumiya, wouldn’t it? How can I even think of infiltrating that, besides it’s likely they wouldn’t leave a paper trail or anything like that. She also made that comment about ravens eating doves,” It felt easier changing the subject. “Coulombe is an Anjou surname meaning dove, or so I’m told.”
“In which case, who’s the raven? And not to mention—I always heard that she mainly predicted the future. Odd, then, for her to suddenly project these things about your past.” Ofelia had ended up on her feet without even realising it, starting to pace the confines of the small office; she’d practically worn a path into the carpet, a groove tracing her contemplative strides exactly like this.
It was a long shot, but: “Theoretically, I suppose someone from the Dragons could have gone rogue, freelance. I’ve helped Wilde with a few unruly members of his own syndicate going off-book, off the record.”
“Yes, but if that’s the case the Dragons would’ve already offed him. Why would she warn me about the Dragons again if the source of the trouble had already been dealt with.” Unfortunately, Ofelia’s pacing did nothing to calm her down, winding up her nerves instead. “They’ll kill me. I can’t infiltrate the Dragons. For fuck’s sake, I’m learning how to infiltrate from one of them. There’s no way I can just one up my master.” Audrey had looked towards her much kinder mentor. “You know he follows rules by the book.”
Ofelia’s cousin was her cousin, but the thought of Fumiya’s techniques still created a leaden lump in her stomach—they weren’t her own methods. “I agree,” she said shortly. “It’s not very likely. But still… I advise gathering as much information as you can before you confront him about this.” Just in case, she thought darkly, mind immediately flitting to the worst-case scenario.
She was a private investigator, of course she’d advocate investigation: all of Fee’s instincts drove towards obsessive preparation, compiling dossiers on everyone before approaching them. Arming yourself with information could be tantamount to carrying a loaded gun.
“So then,” Audrey neared the table. Pulling out a paper, she scribbled out the word: Raven. “We start there and see what that gives us. If Dove is synonymous with Coulombe, then it only seems logical to find what last name is synonymous with Raven, right?”
Doves and ravens, Ofelia thought suddenly. And starlings, and sparrows—
But that was silly, wasn’t it? What purpose would an inquisitor have for meddling in this situation, for setting a family tree ablaze?
“Exactly,” the older woman said instead. “And I’ll help you look, of course. This is important.”
Audrey smiled back at her mentor, her expression different from the exasperation she had shown before. The blonde before her had a different energy, one filled with purpose as she took (for the first time) control of her own investigation. She would start by looking through the different established families, through crests and trades. There had to be a lead somewhere.