Part Thirty-Three

Zora woke up to the smell of jasmine and she felt calm and secure, which in a way was pretty strange considering she was tied to a chair in what looked like a cellar. She looked around curiously, there was something she was supposed to remember, something... oh if it was important it would come to her she was sure of it.

A woman stepped out of the shadows near the stairs, half her face was covered with a mask but Zora still thought she seemed really nice and friendly and she smiled at her.

"Argyle really knows what he's doing... that's some powerful stuff right there." The woman said and Zora thought she might know who this Argyle might be but she couldn't quite place him.

"So, Zora... is Zora your real name?"

She thought a while before answering. "Yes, I think it is... I sometimes call myself other names but this one feels right."

"Who sent you after us?" The woman walked closer, her hips swaying a bit and making her skirt ripple, something that Zora found very distracting. The woman reached out a hand and tilted her face upwards. "Answer the question, Zora."

"Oh, uhm... it was a man. A tall man. He had a vest and very blue eyes." Zora smiled at the woman proudly.

"Does this man have a name?" She still held Zora's chin gently, looking into her eyes.

"I bet he does. Most people have a name, it makes it easier for others to call them. So he probably has one too." The woman sighed and released Zora's chin pinch the bridge of her own nose. She muttered something Zora couldn't make out.

"Ok, ok... what is this man's name?"

"He said to not call him Lord Amberfitch but instead tell everyone his name was Bob, I think it was Bob, could have been Rob. I'm not sure, my head is a bit fuzzy."

"And where did you meet this man?"

"He came to see me at the bar." The woman looked disappointed and Zora felt sad that she couldn't be more helpful.

"So you do not know where he lives?"

"No, he said he didn't want visitors in his airship so I couldn't come there."

"I see. Thank you." Zora smiled. "A final question. Where are you from?" Zora knitted her brow. Something felt wrong about that question, like there was something she should remember. But she really wanted the nice lady to like her so she shrugged.

"I was raised in the Temple of the Forgotten God." The woman nodded before taking something from a pocket in her skirt.

"Thank you again, Zora. Now sleep." Zora breathed in to answer but her nostrils filled with the scent of lavender and before she could utter a sound her eyes fluttered close and she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Part Thirty-Two

Argyle did indeed have a cellar, it was even mostly free from debris and broken machinery. They tied the woman they'd known as Zora to a chair and waited for her to wake up. Marie got restless quickly and disappeared upstairs, presumably to find something interesting to fiddle with. As she ascended the stairs she cast a meaningful look at Miss Sarah.

"How hard did you hit her?" Argyle looked slightly worried.

"Oh, not too hard. The stone wall did most of the work," Miss Sarah answered as she observed Argyle's reaction. The inventor hadn't been aware of her possessing that particular skill-set and she was curious of his reaction.

It was obvious he was having trouble combining his own image of the sweet caring assistant with this more violent one. Finally he seemed to give up and changed the subject.

"What will you do once she wakes up? I do not fancy you torturing her in my basement."

"Don't worry, we are just going to talk. Torture doesn't give good answers anyway - it's a filthy practice."

"Good, good... that's what I wanted to hear. In that case I have something that will help her feel like she can talk more freely. Just give me minute..." Argyle walked over to a set of drawers tucked away in a corner and came back with what looked like a stick of incense.

"You might want to stay away from the smoke yourself though... or you might start talking about things you don't want... her to know about too." The hesitation was barely noticable and Sarah smiled and nodded.

"I'll be careful. Thank you Argyle."

Part Thirty-One

The shadow landed a blow before either of them could find their bearings. It was aiming for Marie's head, hoping to drop the biggest threat first, but one didn't survive as long as Marie without some serious reflexes. The blow which would have swiftly rendered her unconscious had it hit full on barely glanced and she spun into a ready position, flexing her wrists to spring her small knives into her hands.

The shadow tumbled into the faint light from the gas lamps and Marie recognized the characteristic braids. Zora. No longer playing the role of the sweet waitress her face had hardened and her whole demeanor reeked of something completely different than before.

"You here to kill me or are you just the distraction" Marie taunted, hoping that Sparky would get the hint.

Zora only smiled before she exploded into action. Close combat was not one of Marie's preferred methods of combat but she could hold her own. Zora was in a completely different league. It took all of Marie's skill to keep on her feet and she knew her luck would run out soon.

Had Marie been alone in the alley Zora would a won, no doubt about it, but she wasn't, something the waitress-turned-thug/assassin quickly noticed when and elbow crashed into her back. She scrambled to get to her feet and narrowly avoided a slash of Marie's blades.

"What took you so long?" Marie asked as she dodged and spun.

"Damn skirt got stuck... you were fine though." Miss Sarah said as she blocked two blows from Zora and finished with her own counter-blow forcing the other woman back.

"Fine! I was fighting for my life!"

"... and since you are still alive and mostly unhurt you did fine. Your posture is still sloppy though so we should work on that." Sarah deflected a few more increasingly desperate blows before she got her chance. A misstep from the braided girl left an opening Sarah swiftly took advantage of and a solid elbow blow propelled the would-be assassin into the stone wall of the building, effectively knocking her unconscious.

After catching her breath Marie bent to check on Zora. "Out cold. She won't be moving in a while. Enough time for us to get the heck away from here."

Miss Sarah finished refastening the skirt she had gotten rid of for the fight."Sparky's already on the move. He bolted as soon as the fight started."

"Great. We'll find him later... now. Let's bring this one to a suitably scary place so we can interrogate her."

"We can try, but I recognize that fighting style and if she's what I think she is we won't get a word out of her."

"Well. We won't know until we get poking. Argyle has a cellar, right?"

Part Thirty

Marie stood up so quickly her chair fell backwards. She grabbed the teapot but found no microphone or transmitter, setting it down again she went for the sugar bowl instead. While she was looking the voice continued:

"... I guess even the fat thief finds a gem now and then. Unfortunately you are too late. My plan is already in motion and this little mishap won't get in my way." Sparky frowned at the insult and helped Marie look, when they found what seemed to be the little Talkie he gestured to her to keep looking for the microphone as the man on the other end, Lord Amberfitch presumably, obviously could hear them as well as talk to them.

"What, no snappy comebacks? And I heard you had such a great sense of humor Sparky. Is it the little gutter rat who's gagging you..." Miss Sarah finally located the Listener, the small brass oval were set under the table and she quickly got it loose before looking at Marie and raising a questioning eyebrow. Marie looked around before her eyes once again fell on the teapot. Lifting the lid she indicated to Miss Sarah to drop the Listener in.

"... you won't stop me. I have yo-" There was a crackle as the device hit the liquid and a small flash flared. "-u watched where ever you go, you can't hi.... wait, what did you d-" Marie dropped the Talkie into the teapot as well, her whole hand tingling with the thaumaturgy needed to send sounds, and the voice went silent.

"Let's get out of here. He's probably watching but maybe he doesn't know about the third door."

The three of them quickly gathered their things and went for the powder rooms, they slipped into the the men's room, Sparky entering first to cover the women as they slipped into the storage closet just inside the door. Well inside Marie found the switch that unlocked the secret passage and presses it. She breathed a little easier when it swung open silently and revealed the narrow corridor behind it, the three of them moved into it, as silently as they could, closing the hidden door behind them.

At the end of the corridor were stairs and after those and a damp cellar they could finally step outside. They were about a block away from Brodie's now, in an alley populated by stray cats and one or two rats. Marie cursed fiercely.

"I hate to have to run, and it's all I've been doing these last days. I'm tired of this." Miss Sarah hmmed her agreement as Sparky spoke up.

"Well, if you want I think I can find out where Lord Amberfitch is holed up..."

"Yes! Go, find out, then I can finally end this damned business and go back to the way things should be, nice and easy." Marie's annoyance still bled through and she wasn't properly paying attention to her surrounding. Therefore she was actually surprised when the figure detached itself from the shadows.