Cute Masquerade

++"Do you see a staircase to your right? Go to the first floor."++ Marissa instructed.

++"Marissa, do you also think I'm a nutcase?"++ he asked as he climbed up the stairs.

Alan heard her sighed, even though it was a telepathic communication.

++"Well, as my sister had already said, why would you risk coming to the wolf's maw after what they did to you? Just because you don't hold a great amount of gold and have nothing to lose, doesn't mean they can't kidnap you and ask Astrid for a ransom."++ Marissa paused so that Alan could reflect about it. ++"Now that you're under her protection, you're something else to worry about."++

++"Everything will be fine, I promise."++ From the first floor, having a wide view of the bar, he found her at the far right corner, sitting with Matthew Berstein, her boyfriend. ++"After all… You're keeping an eye on Astrid's guest. Don't you?"++

From his place, Alan saw Marissa looking at him

++"Did you hear that? Oh, you… enfoiré…"++

++"I don't know what that means, but it sounds cute."++

Alan smirked at her before turning around. In front of him, a series of doors. He read each sign as he passed them by. **Dahlia, Chamomile, Iris… Here it is… Sakura.**

He took a deep breath before storming inside.

"Marco Souza, we need to talk!"

***

**

*As soon as Alan stepped inside the room, he was stopped in his tracks by someone pointing a knife to his throat.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'll get rid of this pest outside."

"Hold on, Rupert. Let me see his face," a young feminine voice said, making Alan glance at the girl wearing a ruffle dress and ribbons on her silky, long brunette hair. "Level five?" She squinted at Alan, and the realization made her clasp with slim, delicate hands. "You're him! There's no doubt about it! Rupert, treat this gentleman as our special guest!"

Rupert bowed at her and stepped back, while Alan found Marco sitting next to the young teen.

"What are you doing here?" Marco asked, leaving his cup on the table and standing up to confront him. Although his voice sounded composed, his golden eyes were shining with the same murderous intensity as Amelia's minutes ago.

"Calm down, my sweet prince," the girl intoned, grabbing his wrist. "Didn't you hear him? He only wants to talk." She turned her gaze towards Alan. "It's okay, honey. Why don't you take a seat?"

**I didn't expect him to be alone, but I never thought he'd be accompanied by someone like her, either. **

Alan glanced at the delicate young lady smiling at him. **And how old is she, anyway? She looks fourteen or less, but that would be impossible.**

"I'm sorry, miss," Alan spoke, maintaining a stiff posture, "but I'd like to borrow him for a couple of minutes if you don't mind."

"You and I have nothing to talk about…" Marco said, forming fists and irradiating a dark aura around them.

"I SAID SEAT. It's rude to reject a lady's hospitality, you know?"

Alan and Marco turned their gazes towards the teen, who for a moment had turned her voice severe.

"Do as she says," Rupert whispered to Alan, bringing him a cushion.

**A zabuton?** Alan then glanced at the low table, at the room decorated with paintings of pink-flowering trees, and at two NPC servants waiting in a corner, wearing kimonos. **A Japanese-styled room… I don't feel like being in Londorus anymore.**

Alan reluctantly sat, and one of the cat-eared NPCs rushed to bring him a cup and pour something on it.

"Wonderful!" The girl beamed. "Drinking is a social activity, you know? More people, more fun!"

**Why do I feel like being hostage all over again?** Alan thought, gulping his drink. The liquid immediately burned his throat, making him cough. "What's this?!"

The hostess giggled. "Look at him! Is this your first time drinking alcohol? That's sake, and it can be a pretty strong beverage for a first-timer. Would you prefer my servant to serve you apple juice?"

"No, hold on." He gave a shorter, quicker sip, nodding. "It's actually good."

She giggled. "I own this place, you know, so you can drink and eat to your heart's content." With her white, slim hand, she pointed at the center table full of snacks, fruit, desserts, and meat servings.

**This is not what I expected.** Alan watched the NPC fill his cup again, but this time he was reluctant to sip. **I never stopped to consider if this was poisoned.**

"Come on," the girl said softly. "Enjoy yourself."

"Why are you being nice to me? Do I know you?"

"No, Alan Warden, but I know you. We have a friend in common, you see. Lady Monique? Does it ring a bell?"

Alan nodded vigorously. "Oh, from that restaurant, yes! She's another nice lady I met when…"

**Wait… Does this mean that Lady Monique told her everything she knew about me?** He glanced back at Marco, who was making his best to remain calm.

**Oh, holy space crap…**

"Pardon me, I haven't introduced myself yet." She stood up and made a curtsy. "I'm Kathleen Maher, Leader of The Death Bringers' Guild. Nice to meet you, Alan Warden."

That prompted him to stand up, too. "T-the pleasure is all mine!"

Marco only sipped and rolled his eyes.

++"Oh, so she's really here, huh?"++ Marissa's voice was heard inside Alan's head, which made him feel less anxious.

++"Do you know this brat?"++

++"Yes, unfortunately. Don't let her little princess masquerade fool you. She's a monster as strong as Astrid. Both have been rivals almost from the start."++

++"And she deliberately chose to look like this…"++

++"Hey, don't judge, Five! Some change their appearance to that of their opposite sex, some women enlarge their tits, and some decide to look like a loli! Do you have a problem with that?!"++

++"…Wait, did you say there is boob customization?"++

++"Shut up!"++

"Here, try the chicken." Kathleen smiled at him. "I assure you that the food prepared by my NPCs is quite superior to anything you could eat at The Dragon's Belly. Just don't tell the owner that though, he's a friend of mine. Tee-hee."

**I'll have to play along for the moment…**

"If you insist!" Alan beamed and grabbed a chicken leg, taking a bite. "Oh, wow! This is—! The Dragon's Belly's food tasted nice, but this is on a completely different level! It's the seasoning!"

Kathleen smiled in a motherly way. "That's right, I was able to replicate my family's recipe here inside The Novus and teach it to my servants. Try this apple pie baked with the Maher Family's secret recipe."

"Mmm, god! It's amazing! You'll turn into an excellent wife someday!"

"Do you think so? How flattering! Although the NPCs would be the ones cooking for my future husband instead of me."

"If I was the lucky one, I would just pretend you were the one cooking. These are your recipes, after all!"

"Aww, how sweet of you, tee-hee."

Marco, who was gritting his teeth, leaned toward Kathleen and whispered: "Are you going to let this guy ruin our meal? This guy…"

"I know," she said in a serene tone of voice before turning to Alan. "But I can't lose the opportunity to express my gratitude to the man that helped me destroy Shooting Stars…"

++"Not everyone enlarges their breasts,"++ Alan blurted out telepathically. ++"Tamara is practically flat, yours look of average size, and if my memory serves me right, Astrid's look the same as when--"++

++"Why are you still thinking about that?! Pay attention to their conversation, dammit!"++

**The one that destroyed…?**

Alan blinked and turned to Kathleen, frowning. "Wait, you're not talking about me, are you?"

"Of course I am, silly! And for that, you have my eternal gratitude." She turned to her servant. "Kasumi? Would you mind showing us that video I liked, please?"

"Right away, ma'am."

After making a short bow, the NPC's eyes glowed and projected a video on the wall in front of them, her mouth acting as an audio speaker.

Alan watched a group of commentators having a fierce debate about last night's Battle Stream. Suddenly, one of them pointed at the screen above them, making the camera focus on a list of made-up names, but Alan recognized those in fourth and fifth place. 'Shooting Stars' and 'Death Bringers'.

The commentators roared in surprise when Astrid's guild dropped out from the top ten.

++"This is in real-time. This is happening as we speak! Let's scroll down to see where Shooting Stars is positioned right now."++

Alan swallowed hard as the list went down, and down, and down.

++"110th place! Oh, how low the big have fallen!"++

++"Let's reiterate that this list only ranks the overall Guild Power, Tim."++

++"Good luck getting into the top fifties again though!"++

Kathleen burst out laughing. It was a childlike but refined laugh. "It's still as funny as the first time!"

Alan lowered his head, looking at his reflection on his cup's content. **Oh, so that's the game we're going to play.**

He gulped his drink. "You know, you seem to be very old friends. And you…" He pointed at Marco with the half-eaten chicken leg. "You found a new guild pretty quickly. You even came all the way here, as if you had planned it all along."

Kathleen smiled ear to ear. "You think? I've been friends with Marco since the very first Novus' days."

"Is that sooo?" Alan smirked at him.

"That's right," she said, and pouted. "Unfortunately, when I could finally form my guild, he got snatched by that gorilla woman. But nothing will separate us again. Isn't that right, my prince?"

"Well, glad I could help you reunite at last!" Alan said, raising his cup. "Let's make a toast!"

"Sure! Kasumi, fill his cup. Come on, Marco, grab your drink too!"

Marco did, after exhaling.

"For eternal friendship!" Alan toasted.

"For eternal friendship, yeah!" she giggled.

The two drank in unison, followed by Marco, who gave a modest sip.

++"Five? It may be too late to say this…"++

++"Oh, don't worry, Marissa… It wouldn't be the first time you freaking do it!"++

++"I don't know what kind of relationship you and Astrid had, so…"++

++"Spit it."++

++"If you needed another excuse to hate Marco Souza, he dated her for like a month…"++

Alan spat out his drink, making Marco and Kathleen wince.

**Marissa Laflamme, you are chaos incarnate, just like your sister…**

***

**

*

"Ah! This is the good stuff!" Tamara beamed, leaving another empty mug of beer on the bar. **And where is Alan? He's missing out on all the fun! **

She rested her chin in one hand and grabbed a fistful of peanuts with the other, munching them absently.

**I haven't seen Marissa in a while, too. Although she's always like that… I sometimes think she doesn't like me.**

"Cheers, cutie," a man suddenly said beside her, holding his mug aloft.

Tamara squinted at the bulky man sitting by her side. "William? Do you also like coming here?"

"I'm here because of business." He chuckled. "What are you doing here?"

A few feet away from them, Karen Svensson noticed the two chatting, and stomped her way towards them. "Hey! What is one of Astrid's bitches doing here?" she cried, pointing at Tamara.

"I was asking her that," William said, with closed teeth. "And it wouldn't hurt you to be nice."

"I don't have to anymore!" Karen was shouting, while Tamara looked at them, confused.

**Am I missing some context here?**

Frowning, she turned around to look at the rest of the clientele. Some of them wore the emblem of a skull inside a snowflake.

"Look upstairs," a voice whispered behind her.

When Tamara turned around, she found a couple passing by. A young man was being held by the arm by a tall girl with strawberry blonde hair. **Was that Marissa?**

Repeating those words in her head, she looked at the first floor, from where a young-looking girl could be seen, exiting a room, crossing the corridor, and taking down the stairs. **W-what is the Snow Diamond doing here?!**

Tamara's face turned pale and felt that the entire place seemed to twist around her head. Karen Svensson was still nearby, glaring at her. **She was with Marco just a couple of hours ago, wasn't she? That means that Marco is here too, but why would he…?**

Her heart skipped a beat. **No. He wouldn't…**

Tamara opened her User Interface, tapped on the Guild's tab, and checked the Member's List.

**68 current members… We've been 100 for over a year now… Dear goddess…**

She swallowed, feeling that the alcohol effects disappeared in a second. **But most importantly… Where is Alan Warden?**

"Tammie?" William whispered in her ear. "I've convinced Karen to leave you alone, but I can't guarantee your safety if others see you. I would leave if I were you. Come on, I'll escort you out."

Tamara felt William's huge hand pressing against her shoulder.

**I… I need to call Astrid…**