Criminal

"So? How're we doing it?"

"Doing what?"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"I thought you had a plan."

"Sadly, I don't. Disguising myself is not my forte, you know? If I am to go out like this I'll get caught asap. You should know of some way, if not, you wouldn't have suggested going with you."

After smiling at her answer, he looked away from her.

"You are too catchy, that is a given. And most people must know your face by now."

"Uhu. Too pretty to the world, uh?"

"Ha ha ha, yes. Let us start with modifying your face."

He said as he approached her. Taking a step back, Charlotte gulped and made up her mind.

"Go on."

Closing her eyes, she stayed still, not knowing what was to be of her.

Please, don't make it hurt too much.

Hearing Gut chuckling, she tightened her fists. And opened one eye. What she saw in front of her was… Makeup utensils, many types of makeups utensils. Different shades of blush, some paint brushes, eyeliners and other things she didn't know the name of.

"T-That is…"

"My personal kit. It helps in the most inconspicuous ways. He-he, now, stay still."

After letting him mess with her face for a while, she felt like something had changed, like she had a mask on her face. But she only had powder on her.

Looking at the mirror of the bathroom, she couldn't recognize herself.

What she saw was a boy, a young boy's face going by the stature and the slightly small face he had. She couldn't even see her freckles, the ones that she hated but always accompanied her!

Given that her bust was on the smaller side, if she just put a bandage on, she'll be no different than an actual young boy.

"…I… I'm no longer… Yes, this is necessary… Sigh, I need matching clothes, don't I?"

"Yes, but that can be left for latter time, now we need to go out. They are coming now."

"How… Never mind, let's go."

She had no time to strap her breast, so she could only hope to not get caught because of it. She already had everything in hand. Her satchel with all her clothes and cash, White Prism and a disguise.

Shouldering her satchel, she cringed at the pain when it hit her lower back.

Right, I had a burn.

She had forgotten completely about it when she first saw Gut in the kitchen.

"What is wrong, missy?"

Seeing her face, he asked with concern in his voice.

"It's nothing… I just have some scorches all over my body."

Gut frowned at her answer, he could see that she was enduring pain.

"Really? I am sorry for that. For now, let us go. Latter I will see if I can help."

Gritting her teeth, she let the pain accompany her, she had to get used to it for now.

"Alright."

She went out after Gut, leaving the residence of his dear friend. She promised she'll be coming back.

"Given your stature and face, you should say you have 13 or 14 years. For a name, what do you want to be called as?"

"Charles, it's similar to my own and easy to remember."

"Roger that. Let us go, Charles."

*****

They arrived at a mall. She was still wearing Jean's shirt, even if it was baggy on her. She would treasure that one, one of the little things she still had of her normal days. They had come there to buy some boy clothes, she had to do her part.

Inside, she bought two more fitting shirts, a T-shirt, two trousers and one pair of shoes. All intended for boys.

After buying spare clothes, they went to a hotel Gut was seemingly staying there. He then changed his room to a double one, saying that things would be more complicated if they were apart. Charlotte could do nothing but agree. She knew he was the expert on this field.

Once inside, she entered the bathroom and took off her shirt. Looking at the burn in the mirror, she couldn't help but frown. Some white-yellowish material was starting to form on top of it. For what she knew, it was infected.

Right, I've not washed it and I've been moving around all day.

It was now past 2 in the afternoon. Putting back the shirt, she went out.

"Hey, you know how to treat burns?"

"Oh, right, yes. I know. Let me see."

"I'll change, wait a bit. Prepare everything then."

She took the bandage that she had not used from her satchel and went inside the bathroom again. Wrapping it around her chest, she now looked like a boy with bandages on his chest. Sighing at how easy it was to pass as a boy for her, she went out again without the shirt.

Even if she looked like a boy, she still had curves on her body. Staring at her a little bit, Gut looked away and motioned for her to sit in a chair without its back so he could inspect her.

After looking at it for some time, he told Charlotte to go with him to the bathroom. In there he started the shower and made her sit beside it. He then used a towel that the hotel provided them and started to wash it softly. He continued it for more than ten minutes. He then told her it was fine, that it only needed time and there was nothing to worry about. He was going to buy some ointment to help it regenerate the skin and make the recovery faster.

Once Charlotte was alone, she sighed. She had been worried that Gut would do something to her. She had no way of stopping him, no strength and speech was of no use use against people like him. She didn't know anything she could use against him.

I can only meditate and try to do things with Prism…

He had also washed her other burns. Even though his hands were rough, he tried his best to soothe her and not make things turn in a bad direction. At least that was what she felt.

She was wearing the same as before: The bandage around her chest and the trousers she'd had all day long. Though the trousers were scooped up to her knees so he could wash the scorches on her feet.

Once inside the Crystal's Space. She projected the outside and saw herself laying on the bed. She looked at the burn again. It was the same as that one time in the morning. But not as the one she saw before on the mirror. There were differences. While on the mirror she saw her burned skin, yellowish-white material and some inflammation. In here she saw something akin to a scar. As if it had already healed.

"Maybe it's not the same injury?"

Trying to remove it, she felt some soreness. Strangely enough, it was not the same kind of pain she experienced when she was being washed.

"This feels as if I'm peeling the crust of an old injury…?"

She decided to stop trying to tear the burn of her back off, and continued with the one of her left hand. As it was smaller, it should be easier!

She continued for some time more. After more than thirty minutes, she started to feel tired. Not the fatigue she felt when doing excessive 'exercise' in here. But the fatigue she felt when she managed to tear the black spot on her vision.

"This…"

She was now more or less sure. These strange burns were the result of those spots!

"If I have those black spots, then when I'm injured they'll go to the injury? Is it bad or good? I don't know… I'll leave some alone for now to see."

Peeling off the one on her left hand. She decided to leave the rest for later. She needed to rest now.

Before going back, she needed to do something with that brown thing floating around her.

It was roughly one centimeter big. Enough for a normal person to see. Letting it 'go', she waited for it to do something, but it didn't move. As if it was paralyzed in space, frozen to never move again.

She decided to move around, ignoring its existence for a while.

Look away, and then! Look back at it. Nothing, the same.

'Walk' away, and then! Go back and look at it. Nothing, the same.

Make rounds around her body, and then! Go back and look at it. Nothing, the same.

… After doing similar things repeatedly, she gave up. It was not moving at all!

She decided to look at it from the outside.

Going back to her body. She looked around and saw nothing.

"I'm sure I left you there."

Looking some more, she still found nothing.

"… Weird…"

Feeling silly and without any results, she saw her left hand. Looking there, she was surprised! She saw, her burn as if nothing had happened…

"Right. How would it heal so fast… Heheh."

Even if she was feeling a little tired, she went inside the Crystal's Space and started the External Projection again.

"Now, this is unsettling."

She saw the brown mark again in her left hand. As she knew there was nothing dangerous on tearing it apart, so this time she tore it as fast as she could. Without being even a bit careful.

She was feeling a little more tired after tearing it, but she ignored it.

"What to do with you…"

She summoned her power, 'Dust Gathering', and tried to combine it with the brownish spot. After succeeding on it, she left it 'go'. To her surprise, something happened this time, they started to separate one from the other.

"… At least there's some reaction."

Continuing with her little experiments, she got tired after around half an hour. From what she could gather, the brown spot didn't mix with anything, and after going to reality it would go back to her arm, to where it was 'supposed' to be. She also had no control over it. She couldn't put a 'command' to it. Not tearing, not joining, nor moving it around. Everything had to be manually.

"It's something different from the dust. At least it's some matter, but you don't exist in reality?"

She was now feeling very tired. As if she had run for some hours. So she chose to sleep.

*****

"If you sleep like that, you will catch a cold."

Being jolted awake by that voice, Charlotte immediately sat up.

"O-oh, it's you. Don't scare me like that…" She said while sighing, putting her hand on her chest.

"Ha-ha, apologies. We are leaving the city tomorrow afternoon."

"Why not today?"

"You have no ID, we would be easily located if something happens."

"Ah, right… Uh? Then I'll have an ID tomorrow?"

"Indeed."

"Thanks…"

"You seem tired. You should rest more."

"Yeah… I feel like I could sleep all day long. By the way, what time is it?"

"It is past seven."

I slept for three hours…

"Thanks."

"Do not mention it. Show me your back."

Gut was standing next to the bed opposite to her. On one of his hands was a white plastic bag.

"Okay"

Doing as he requested. Charlotte got up and stood in front of him, facing in the opposite direction.

"Ssssss!"

Sucking in air, she endured the pain. Even if she was getting used to it, she would prefer to not feel it at all. He had covered the burn on her back with a cover to prevent it from being touched directly by other things, he then put on her torso some bandages, not so strongly, just enough for it to have some 'breath'.

"Alright. You can keep on resting."

"Yeah."

She plopped on her bed and started to 'rest'.

Entering the Crystal's Space again, the first thing she saw was that there was no change whatsoever. Sighing, she tore the brown spot from her left arm, again.

"At least when I'm doing this, I don't get a new black one."

She tried to come up with something two more times but to no avail.

Not having any idea about what else to do, Charlotte decided to leave it at that. Tomorrow they would be moving around so she needed the energy.

*****

"Charlotte is a what?"

Raising an eyebrow, Dordives asked the man in front of her. He came to her house looking for her friend. He has just said that Charlotte was a serial killer and had to be put down as fast as possible.

"You're misunderstanding, Young Lady. What I meant to say was that she potentially is a serial killer. She's shown that she's willing to burn down buildings to get away."

"I don't think so. I've known her for five years already and she's the sweetest girl I know."

"That's why you should cooperate with this investigation. We need to apprehend her as fast as possible. We need to clarify it all. It's for the greater good!"

"And that's why I said, I. Don't. Know. Where. She. IS!"

Getting up from her chair, she decided this conversation was going nowhere and left the man alone. They've been at this for half an hour already. He didn't want to tell her anything regarding her friend, and she was being constantly asked about things she didn't know. Right now, she had the urge to smoke for the first time in her life. She was on the verge of having a breakdown.

She was working on her thesis when she received a call. It was from her father. He asked for her to remain calm and to look at the news.

Not knowing what was going on, she looked at the news with interest. Before doing so, she had thought something funny in the great scheme of things had happened, her father called her from time to time to make her see some news, something that would benefit the company or that could endanger it greatly.

When she saw what was trending, though, she simply couldn't process it. She had to wait half an hour before starting to move.

The first thing she did was, obviously, trying to contact her friend. After the fifth failed attempt, she gave up. It was now almost nine in the morning. Without any good idea, Dordives decided to go to Charlotte's place. She has only been there once, but she remembered it well despite being a little drunk. It was her dear friend's current, last, residence!

Arriving, she was momentarily at a loss. On the news was said that she started a fire to get away. But presently, what she was seeing was out of proportion. All the building was burnt down. Gratefully, the fire was contained to this single building and no life was lost.

After asking a firefighter who was still in the street, she realized the fire was just put out. It had been going on since 2 in the morning. The fire obviously was not a natural one, from what the preliminary investigation showed, there were catalysts all over the building. Making the fire grow wilder after each one was detonated. It was impossible to salvage the building.

This… Is not her doing.

Dordives was convinced. Charlotte, albeit being one of the smartest people she knew, was a bit too clumsy, she was careless and got distracted way too fast by some random thought she had. Taking out her phone, she saw she had some missed calls. It was from her other good friend, Ellen.

*Tu~

Ellen picked the call immediately.

"Hey! Did you hear? Charly is a criminal! What's going on?!"

"Hey Elly, I'm at her place now. It's a mess… I don't know what to do."

"A mess? What do you mean?"

"It was burned down completely."

"Wha…? Really? Then… She's really…"

"No! I know she's not! She's being framed! I'm sure of it! You know her too! She couldn't do it! She's way too careless to do this kind of thing!"

"… Right… Hey, where… I'm going to where you are."

"Ok… I'll wait here."

After ten minutes of waiting, someone approached her.

"Lady Larochelle, I'd like you to accompany me."

Turning around, Dordives saw a well built man in his forties. He had a tranquil smile on his face but his demeanor talked about authority. He was treating her carefully as she was an important lady. He had a badge on his left hand and a document in his right, indicating he had come with the required procedure to make her go with him.

Sighing in her mind, Dordives answered curtly.

"I'm waiting for someone, when she arrives, i'll be following you."

"If who you're waiting for is miss Ellen Guerrant, then she's not coming here. Another official working with us is escorting her now."

"… Alright, hey, Kim, tell my father where I'm going."

She told her father's butler. He had come with her when she was going out, saying it was too dangerous to go alone today. He's also the reason the firefighter told her all that information before.

"Alright."

Once they were on the police's building, she was led to an interrogation room. On there she was asked multiple times her relationship with Charlotte. How they met, what she liked, how she behaved around her, how she lived… She was asked the same by at least three different officers.

When it was finished, she was led to another room. Inside was Ellen, she was facing her way but was looking at a screen before her. She had a pale face. Dordives approached her friend.

"Elly… What's wrong, I've never seen you like this…"

She tried to soothe the mood, but she also knew there wasn't much she could do now.

"She's not framed…"

She said in a whisper, making Dordives almost miss her words. Frowning at her remark, she circled the table that was between them and looked at the screen.

In the screen were pictures of Charlotte, hundreds of them. She was wearing different dresses, different vests and clothes. Making different poses. Ellen had a face as if she was about to cry.

"She was not framed… She's really the one who did it…"

"Why do you say that…?"

"Don't you think she was acting weird the last two weeks?"

"What do you mean…?" Realizing something, Dordives opened her eyes wide.

Yes, something was not right last weekend, when she invited us.

"She suddenly started talking more to us, she invited us to go out, something she never does. She… She also made these and prepared them to me…"

"But… It could be computationally made, no? Getting someone else to make the poses and photoshoping her in there…"

Even if she was the one saying it, she couldn't convince herself at all, much less her friend. The photos looked so real, as if Charlotte was standing in front of her.

"I thought the same at first. But then I saw the mail she left with the photos… It was a goodbye mail."

"… Show me…"

Complying with her wish, Ellen showed the mail. In there, Charlotte apologized for everything, as well as being a bad friend. She also said she had to go away, some matters were urgent and she couldn't stay.

After reading the mail, Dordives was sure it was Charlotte the one who wrote it. Who else would use those damned emojis so much while writing a damned goodbye letter!

She closed her eyes, and started to think. She couldn't come up with anything.

After some time, an officer entered the room and told her.

"Lady Larochelle, there's something for you, too."

Sighing for a moment, she told the officer to show her. She thought she was going to receive another mail like Ellen.

"It's impossible to show it, as it was something prepared for the future. To when it was… Your wedding day."

"…!"

Getting shocked by those words, if it wasn't by Ellen fast reaction Dordives would have fallen to the floor.

"She also left a letter, I'm sorry we looked at it, but it was to make sure nothing dangerous was in there."

The officer tried to hand over the letter to her, but she was in no state to take it. Ellen was the one who took it.

The minutes ticked by as Ellen waited for Dordives to calm down. She had not read the letter still.

After regaining her composure, Dordives asked Ellen for the letter. Reading it, she sighed. It was almost the same as Ellen's, there were some differences, but it was about being with her and going to her house. Silly things from a silly friend who was parting.

Was it not for the fact that she was now a criminal, both Dordives and Ellen would have believed this letter was meant because she left to tour the world, or she got a too good of a job and couldn't wait to go there. Something they both believed Charlotte would do.

Later on, another officer came in. He talked to them and tried to make things better for them. At the end, Ellen asked.

"When were these done…?"

She signaled at her friend's letter. The officer hesitated a little before answering.

"…Last Tuesday, we've records of she going both to a photo-studio to take the shots and to buy the flowers, leaving the letter there. She also went to her parents store and spent all afternoon there."

The officer left shortly after and let them be in silence again. When the sun was setting, another officer came in to the room. He told them that they were going to be asked other things.

Getting separated from her friend, Dordives didn't know what to do, she was at a lost, as if she was a new born lamb thrown into the world without its mother. She had not felt like this in so much time…

*****

On the year 1738. On the 31th day of the third month. Charlotte Eschette became one of the most wanted and possibly dangerous criminals on the world.