When Gabriel turned into the alleyway leading to his house and saw those three men standing in front of it, he couldn’t help but groan in tiredness and slight anger as these people were clearly waiting for him.

- What do YOU want from me? – Gabriel questioned from a reasonable distance, about 10 meters away from the group around the entrance of his house.

The three of them just looked at him for a second and then started talking between themselves. They had come here since the cube where those qualified usually lived had told them that someone else had qualified, but although not everyone who had qualified was human there had never been a monster.

They knew his identity because the thief god not only stole information, but he also stored it. And therefore, his followers could access it and so they knew that he was a Rakshnurian. A weirdly evolved one, most likely, but a monstrous Rakshnurian, nonetheless.

They would have doubted his intelligence more if they didn’t know the requisites to know about the cube and seeing that he was caring for someone else who had also evolved erratically. But still they couldn’t leave their prejudices aside and therefore talked about what they should do about him.

In the end they decided to talk with him while being prepared to terminate him at any moment. Throughout their talk, which they tried to keep secret as they talked quietly, Gabriel had made his way towards his house and, as a consequence, towards them as well and heard what they said.

He was already inside his home when they had finished discussing and had closed the door on them. Not that he expected it to do much because, if they weren’t the best actors in the world, they should be some of the best thieves and getting inside of his barely protected house should be a piece of cake and it was, but they were baffled once again by his ability to make as little noise as possible, because they didn’t listen to him passing by them.

- Who are you? – The leading man of the trio which had just entered Gabriel’s house asked him, suspicious and weary of the monster.

Gabriel had left the resting Arabelle on the bed inside his room and was now sitting on a low-quality sofa besides a small table sipping some homemade tea. He himself had gotten the leaves and filtered the water and then prepared this drink on a pot on top of a small bonfire. But he made big quantities at a time and then drank the rest at room temperature, as he was doing now.

- My name is Peter, if that’s what you were asking. – Gabriel didn’t really care about what those people did because he had enough preparations not to get killed here and if they kidnapped him, it would just be a repeated experience, yet he decided to use his pseudonym because he liked it and decided to test these people’s knowledge that way. – But I’m sure that’s not what you want to know about me, yet I believe that we should start there. – He paused once more, but for a shorter period of time. – By our names, to know each other

This reply made them stagger for a moment, because they didn’t expect it, but to be honest they simply believed that they would be attacked at once, as a monster would naturally behave, albeit at the same time they expected the unexpected, just not this kind.

- My name is Dieb Fur. – The man at the front answered his prying question and before Gabriel got any more ideas to make time for himself or confuse them, he took control of the conversation. – You’ve seen the cube, so you’ll be coming with us.

- Can’t you wait for a bit? Or will you kidnap me for the third time in my life? Or will you be original and try to kill me here because I know too much. – Gabriel was getting bored as he was finishing his drink and this intrusion wasn’t very well organized nor clean.

For example, as Dieb Fur made his “grand” presentation, one of his lackeys was touching Gabriel’s furniture and the other one picking his nose. They screamed unprofessionalism and Gabriel doubted that they were strong or skilled in anything.

- Two hours and we’ll wait here. We have some time, but we also don’t want to waste our day watching you on your daily life, we also have our own. – Fur gave his ultimatum which Gabriel silently accepted and nodded to show this.

Sixty minutes later four men were walking through Destin directed towards the cube. Arabelle was placidly sleeping unnaturally. Gabriel didn’t want her to fall into any trouble so he made her sleep magically and she would probably stay so for a few hours, by the time he’d already be back… probably.

While he made his way towards the cube, he realized that at some point no other people were at sight, as if they had vanished by crossing one street to the next. The state of the buildings also differed quite a bit, the ones closer to the cube being more weathered than the rest of the city.

- Where are all the people? – Gabriel curiously asked, but no one gave a reply to his request for knowledge. He opened his mouth to ask again after a minute or so, but before he could say anything Dieb Fur commented.

- Shut up for now, we’ll answer all the questions you have when we get to the cube. – The leader answered, annoyed and seemed to have heard these questions multiple times before.

Still, Gabriel kept his mouth shut until they got to a side of the large cubic building, then Dieb touched at certain specific spots of the wall and a doorway appeared, letting them get inside and were met with a large ladder upwards. Gabriel groaned at the sight but seeing that the trio was going up the stairs he followed.

There was a stark contrast between the outside and inside was the first thing that caught Gabriel’s attention. While on the outside the cube seemed quite metallic, the inside had floors and walls of wood.

He also noticed some other people wandering around what seemed a miniature town built inside the cube, though most of them looked unimpressive, like normal citizens of Destin which made Gabriel wonder how these people got inside after he had overheard other people talking about him “meeting the requirements” while looking disdainful and disgusted by him.

He didn’t let those people get into his mind as he was guided into what had to be an important building or at least original, as it was made from the same materials than the cube. It was a four-sided pyramid, about 20 meters high and each side had 10 meters of length.

There was only a single room inside with two chairs on each side except the one where he entered, and a circular hole laid in the middle. Gabriel was pushed by Dieb Fur into the small “hole” which was only half a meter deep.

- Finally, you do something right, Dieb! – One of the seated, old men commented on their arrival. All of the people sitting were humans and older of age. If Gabriel had to guess he’d say that they are all over eighty years old, maybe more.

- And you old bones are still sitting on those high seats and throwing newbies in the lower circle. You really need something to boost your morale, huh?

In the end this was all indeed a show, but Gabriel managed to learn from these people that they weren’t taught by the thief god himself, but rather were descendants from them and the six of the ones sitting here were the best of the second generation, while Dieb Fur was of the third.

At the beginning they had only reproduced between the people inside the cube, but Dieb Fur’s mother changed this and taught the man he loved the necessities to fit the requirements and fit inside the cube. None other in that generation did this, but some of the individuals of the third generation acclaimed their act and followed suit to their parents’ dismay.

And so, the fifth generation was now adult and some members of the sixth were being born, but the people in power realized that if this followed, they would overcrowd the cube. So, they implanted a law that only their descendants could live inside the cube, but the partners couldn’t and had to live in Destin instead.

So, Gabriel was forced to sign a promise that he wouldn’t teach anyone the requirements to enter and find the cube. Gabriel noticed that he didn’t know what these were, but he didn’t comment on it as he realized that if he didn’t know what these were the contract, he had just signed would be null and he would be free to teach whatever he wanted.

Gabriel signed a few more papers and left his mark on a circular stone where every follower of the thief god had carved their name. Gabriel wrote Peter, of course, and then went back home. As no light inside the box was natural, he didn’t really know how much time passed except for a feeling of a few hours, but as he went out and it was pitch black, he realized that he may have miscounted.

On the clock tower of the church the hour marked three in the morning so he rushed to his home in hope that nothing had happened to his sister but inside he knew that she wouldn’t keep still as she couldn’t hold her curiosity in.