As we approached the gates leading to Nirvana, Bonny and Klyde were severely gassed and winded from the trip. Despite being horses built for speed, the past four hours with hundreds of pounds on their back must’ve taken quite a toll on their conditioning. I couldn’t blame them though; they’ve been out in the back of a tiny tavern for months on end without any exercise. Those eighty miles fought against their muscles and lungs, but Bonny and Klyde kept fighting till their last breaths.

Sylvester led us to a fancy stable by the entrance to Nirvana, one that had polished silver lining over every beam and bar. Instead of illiterate farmers, gentlemen wearing clean worker’s clothes were kind enough to watch over Bonny and Klyde for the time being. Sylvester was forced to quite a price to have such horses being taken care of. I would have offered to split the share, but I didn’t have any money, as usual.

Apparently, Sylvester and Tesla were well-known on Capital turf, so they insisted we all wear cloaks to hide our faces. Mooks was quite unhappy about having to wear a leash, but after a few arguable disputes, he agreed.

Despite all the precautions we took, four hooded figures with a white wolf strolling along the street looked so sketchy and suspicious it’s as if we should’ve just nailed wanted posters on our backs to accompany our outfits. So, we managed to hold our ground within the shadows of the rooftops.

“The King was here,” Tesla whispered as we stayed hidden within the street’s darkened corners. “Not long ago too. Dozens of men, armored, empty faces,” his eyes danced around shadows as if he was searching through it.

“How do you know?” I asked, speculating the obvious.

“Shadow Walk. My gift. If I dive into a shadow, information is like pie.”

Just as I thought, he was a Gifted as well. A dangerous one to make enemies with too. “How ever so?” I asked him.

Tesla shot me a smug look, accompanied by a decisive grin. “Cuz pie is too easy to eat. Just like information.”

“Perhaps we should grab a bite to eat first,” added Sylvester, “Even if the King was here, there’s no catching up to him now. Our numbers are too low to barge through the gates.”

Rina shot him a dirty look underneath her hood, “What if Kalvin and the others were captured?”

Tesla stayed silent for a moment, as did I. He then sighed, his eyes scouting the scene. “Let’s go…” He said, leading us into a small diner around the corner. “We best get out of the streetside for now.”

We managed to grab an open booth by the far side of the entrance. It was a cozy, small looking diner with only a few travelers or townsfolk crowding the empty seats. A young woman wearing a blue and red outfit approached us to take our orders. I could see she was scared for a moment, but as we took our hoods off, the tension that was building inside of her relaxed.

We all ordered some sort of meat-centered special that the diner was famous for. “Medium-rare,” I added, as did everyone else besides Mooks. Mooks preferred his meat raw, or severely overcooked. I never really understood his logic, it was like a double-edged sword at times. Or rather, a good of both worlds type of thing.

“Good evening travelers,” A familiar voice planted itself inside our booth. I jerked my head to the left, only to see a pair of glasses reflecting my face back at me. It was Faibel, sitting with his leg crossed, and his face seeming much more mature.

We were all quite stunned to see him pop out of the blue, but the weirdest feeling entered my stomach, one that expected him to be here. It was strange, and it was easy to notice. I wasn’t the only one feeling it too.

“And so he comes!” Sylvester gave a silent finger clap against his palm.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Rina backing away from Faibel, almost as if she didn’t know him at all. She knew Faibel wasn’t the rude boy she could slap for cussing anymore. Faibel was different, in a way that words couldn’t describe alone.

He adjusted his glasses to properly rest on the edge of his nose, then glanced at Rina. “I see you are alive. Good to know you are doing well.” He then looked at me, “And you. I would like to confirm that Leonidas had something to do with your disappearance from the ship?”

I nodded. Mooks growled. Both of us hated to admit it.

“Hmm,” huffed Faibel, taking out some sort of notepad and writing a few sentences with his quil. “Well, the rest of your friends were captured by King Richard II, as expected. His repercussions are beyond my knowledge as of now. He believes the Jewel fails to exist. Although, hypocritically, he sends countless men into the catacombs, none ever return with news he wants to hear.”

The tension on the table stilled for a moment. Not a soul knew what to say. Faibel was used to this sort of scenario far too well. That is, until Rina spoke up, without raising her head from the table. “Who are you Faibel… If that’s even your name…”

“Faibel is indeed my name. Although my identity is similar to a page in a book. Careful readers will pay attention to every detail of every sentence. They read, and when they stop reading, they know exactly where they left off… A lousy reader will need to always carry a bookmark on hand. They won’t ever remember what they read, and they’ll have to read a page again to understand the next one. I am a page in the book, and the level of your reading ability will make you aware of who I am.”

Despite his actions, he couldn’t have been more correct. He was a mystery to me, and those around me. Unlucky for him, I wasn’t a reader at all. If he was a page, I was the book he was in, or perhaps the bookmark.

Rina refused to speak or make any more eye contact with Faibel. He understood her actions, showed her his tongue, and explained everything to us. I wasn’t sure why he would, or what his plan was. But for every page he worked us through, the more of a mystery his overall goal became, and the more complicated this book became. He was a character that seemed to only appear and disappear at random times. He had no goal, and he had no purpose. He was just a page; nothing more.

“Cairo,” Faibel started again, “I am nothing more but a shadow of dangerous men. I observe,” He pointed to his glasses, “and I speak. Those who pose a threat to my leader are those who I follow. Once I calculate their ambitions and actions, I conclude my analysis and data gathering. So, that is why I sit here today. My analysis and observations are complete.”

I sighed, “So you watched me for six months, just to tell me you watched me, and now you’re leaving?”

Faibel chuckled, his eyes fixed on mine. “Not exactly. I’ve learned a lot in this process. What your goal is, what you plan to do, and how you aren’t dead yet. What’s even better—your enemy isn’t who I thought it was.”

“My enemy? And who might that be?”

“I’m surprised you still don’t know...”

Sylvester fixated on Faibel’s eyes through his lenses. “What do you plan on doing now, dear Faibel?”

“Now, I plan to see what the four of you will do. Will you go after your friends in the castle? Go after the Jewel beneath the catacombs? Or run away and forget this mess. I, however, will stay on the sidelines, observing, as I do best, for my leader will enjoy this greatly.”

“Okay, here we go! Comin’ in hot!” The waitress arrived with a face full of joy, a smile as bright as the sun, and plates of steaming hot meat and vegetables clustered around her palms. She set down the food, almost seeming as if she didn’t even see Faibel right beside her. “Now holler at me if you folks need anything!” She jollied as she walked back to the kitchen.

Mooks and Tesla didn’t hesitate to dig in. I, however, wasn’t very hungry. “Tell me something Faibel.” I started, my face as empty as Mooks’ plate after ten seconds of chewing and swallowing. “I have a knot in my stomach. One I’ve had for longer than I can remember. It loosens sometimes, and yet, it tightens even further at times. I want that knot to go away. Gone with the wind, as you might say…”

Faibel smiled, “I’m afraid I don’t hold the answer for that. However, there is someone who can untie it for you. Someone at this very table. Who? I will not say. But as the time comes, you will realize your greatest enemy, is none other but yourself.”

Sylvester looked into his eyes, then at mine. He nodded towards me, and Faibel got up from the booth. “My gift,” concluded Faibel, “Is called the Whistleblower’s Tongue. Those who taste the blood of my tongue will have the world forget their existence as a whole. Unless of course, they are faced with a life or death moment, like yours on the ship I presume. For me, personally, I can use my gift freely, although it only works until the next time I show myself.”

Just as he was preparing to leave, he took off his glasses, leaving his face as open as the sky. “We shall meet again, Cairo, Rina, Sylvester, Mooks. Quite soon rather. My leader will be displeased of what I’ve done, but my leader is no longer in control of what I do, for I, have learned more than I would’ve ever expected to learn… Farewell, for now.” He turned around and walked out of the diner, his hand waving behind him.

Tesla began scratching his head, eagerly, “Was it just me or did he not say my name?”

“Who didn’t say your name?” Mooks yelped at him.

We all fell silent after that. None of us could remember who the man sitting in the open seat was. He was here, just moments ago, I was sure of it. Who was it? He had—

No, I couldn't remember either. All I knew was what he said, nothing more, nothing less.

We ate in silence after that. I gave Mooks most of my food, and Rina barely ate any of hers. In fact, none of us were hungry. Well, except for Mooks, but he was an exception when it came to food.

“Cairo…” Rina whispered, her eyes fixated onto the plate. “If you want to leave, forget about all this, and live your life. Do so… I won't stop you… But I’m going to go after my friends. No matter who they are to me, and no matter how mean and rude they’ll get at times. I will risk my life to save them… I know they mean nothing to you, so please, just leave if you plan on doing so anyway.”

My mouth fell ajar, but no words came rattling out of my tongue, not even one of my usual mood-calming sighs. I just sat there, mouth open, eyes drooping, face swallowing my surroundings. I reached into my pocket and carefully pulled out the wethered note again. I think this was the second time I’d pulled it out more than once within such a short time span. Find your Happiness, it read.

Find my happiness; wherever it was hidden, I knew I’d find it someday. No matter what pain and suffering that awaited me, happiness was something I needed to know the feeling of. Even for a moment, I just wanted to experience it. Just once, that’s all I asked for.

I put the note back into my pocket, “I’m staying. I am already here, and there is nowhere for me to go.” I was just doing what was right, right? Was this the right thing to do? It made sense, and I could see Rina smiling within the soft brown cloth around her chin. Even Mooks barked at me excitingly, although there wasn’t anything to be excited about. For all we knew, Kalvin and the rest might’ve been dead by now.

“Kalvin isn’t dead,” said Sylvester as he dove into my thoughts again. I gave him a wry look and he shifted his gaze elsewhere. “King Richard II wouldn’t kill someone like Kalvin inside the castle walls. No… He will most likely do it outside, where people can see it publicly.”

“What are you saying?” Rina whimpered, her eyebrows turning sadly.

“I’m only saying what I know.” Sylvester replied, “The king wouldn’t do a private execution of someone who betrayed him. For example, if he got a hold of you or Cairo… well… He wouldn’t be so kind as to do it publicly. The only way I know is due to the previous survivors of the Black Legion, and how he humiliated them in front of hundreds of people in the royal courtyard. At the time, there was nothing I could do. But I wish I had, because only misery followed after that. Nothing but cold, dry misery…”

“So what do we do?” I asked.

Sylvester smiled, he curled his mustache, then smiled even wider, “We wait for him to act. Once the king decides what to do with them, we’ll have a plan ready for action. For now, we wait. Wait in the shadows until our time comes.”

“Sounds like a plan old man.” Tesla finished his last bite of food and clapped Sylvester on the back.

I sighed, glancing over at Rina, who scooched herself closer to me. “We’ll save them…” My voice was low, but a tiny sparkle of hope remained inside it. “I promise.”