Chapter 3

The next evening, the three women began planning their journey. They sat around the kitchen table discussing their next plan of action. It was a crude drawing of the world. "Apologies, I'm not good with drawing..." Beatrice admitted. The world was split up by several different sized land masse, with a giant circle in the center. "We're here," Beatrice pointed to a red x placed in the middle on the upper left side of the map. "We need to find the egg and return it here." She pointed to the circle in the middle. "And what exactly do we do once we get to the middle of the world?" Emilia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aya looked away. "Well, to be honest, I hadn't really thought about that aspect. Killer egg snatchers chasing after me and all, you know?" Aya rubbed the back of her head in shame. "You're telling me that you didn't have a plan to the most dangerous and unexplored part of the Earth?!" Emilia stood from her chair. "You can't be serious!" Aya also stood up from her chair, now in a frenzy. "Look, I hadn't thought that far ahead, alright?! How would you act if there was strangers who killed your father and stole his prize possession?!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Beatrice yelled. "Do you two want to find the egg or not?" Aya folded her arms like a child while Emilia went back to the map trying not to make eye contact with the werewolf. "Thank you." Beatrice said with a heavy sigh. She returned to the map. "I know that there's a town that's next to the ocean. It would be a great place to stock up on stuff we don't have here." Aya nodded in agreement. "Plus, if I remember correctly, there's someone that could help us with our journey. But he is a tricky fellow, we might need to give him something for the information we need."

Aya sighed. "Of course, there always has to be a price, isn't there?" "Beatrice, do you think you're able to find this person?" Emilia asked earnestly. She gently placed her hand over the maid's. Beatrice nodded. "We have to go south in order to find him and the town. He'll be in the library of South Scale. If we keep moving tomorrow, we can arrive to South Scale by sunrise." Beatrice said. The other's nodded in agreement. "Then we need to gather our supplies as soon as possible, before the sun starts to rise." Emilia remarked.

The vampire and maid retrieved the items that they would need for their journey. Aya offered Beatrice her bag that was used to hold the egg. "It's enchanted to hold several different things. I've only tested ten things at once, but they can be as big as you want, as far as I know!" They gathered several materials, such as food and herbs, for the two mortals to eat. Meanwhile, Emilia only needed the barest of items: a rapier, emergency vials of blood and a small, golden pocket watch. The three girls walked out of the house and through the gates. Beatrice took one last look at her place of residence, then walked away with the others. Emilia pulled a compass from her pocket. She pointed towards the woods. "It looks like we need to head that way."

Aya clenched her hand into a fist. She didn't want to go back into those woods. Despite not remembering the rainy chase, she could still remember the pain coming from her leg. "Are you sure we can't take another way? Maybe using your bat wings or something?" "One, I do not possess bat wings. Two, no." Emilia stated. Aya responded to that passive aggressive response with a hearty pout and a slow shuffle into the woods. The three trekked into the dark woods for quite some time. The leaves and branches still glistened by last night's storm. An occasional owl broke the deafening silence.

Aya's legs were starting to burn. She sighed and sat down onto a damp log. "Lemme just rest, ok?" she asked. She turned towards her party. Emilia wasn't paying attention to the werewolf. She was staring at Beatrice, who was standing in the middle of the forest. "Beatrice?" Emilia asked. She looked worriedly at her maid, who was standing motionless like she did in the kitchen. Aya looked on in confusion as the vampire gently put her hand in Beatrice's. All of a sudden, Beatrice snapped to. "Aya, whatever you do, do not step back." "What? Why?" she asked. Just as she got up and took a step forward, her foot slipped on a patch of wet leaves and slammed into a nearby tree. There was a loud crack, followed by the crashing of a gigantic beehive. Thousands of swarming, stinging soldiers flew out of their cracked home. "Run!" Beatrice exclaimed.

The three women began to run from the extremely angry bees. The insects formed a massive swarm, buzzing and ready to avenge their broken hive. "Quick! Into the river!" Aya yelled. She dove into said river. Not wanting to receive a great amount of pain, Emilia and Beatrice dove in after Aya. The swarm hovered over the river. Not finding their game, the bees flew off into the woods once more. The girls burst out of the river, coughing out dirty water from their throats. "Phew, that was close!" Aya exclaimed. "It was a good thing we didn't get stung." Beatrice added. "And now our clothes are wet." Emilia stated as she climbed out of the river.

Aya was going to follow Emilia, but she felt something soft on the ground. She lifted her foot up. What she had stepped on was a small, dead mouse. Aya stepped back. "What on Earth?!" Beatrice quickly grabbed the mouse and put it back into her pocket. "Let's just keep going, alright?" She started to walk in front of the others. Aya stared in disbelief. "Did she..." she asked, then shook her head. "That girl..." she muttered as she caught up with her companions. "We should try to get an inn soon." Emilia said. "The sun should be rising soon." "I believe we might be near South Scale soon." Beatrice mentioned to Emilia. As soon as she said that, Aya's ear's perked up. "You're right! I hear something!" She dashed past the other two women, desperate to find something that wasn't a rotten tree branch or a beehive.

Aya ran and ran, until there was no more woods to run through. She found herself in front of a dirt road. The road was winding its way towards a small town, filled with buildings, people and most importantly, food. "This must be it!" Aya proclaimed to Emilia, who had just caught up to her. "And just in time to, the sun should be rising soon." Emilia said. Sure enough, Aya could see the faint sliver of the sun starting to rise from the horizon. "Let's get you a bed, mistress." Beatrice took the vampire's hand and led her into the town of South Scale. Aya was amazed, as she had not been used to a city this size before. Despite it being early in the morning, the sea side town was well into the hustle and bustle of any other time of the day. Street venders advertised their wares, couples ate inside taverns, a conman swindled gullible men's money and dozens more were walking to and from various destinations.

The party of three soon found a grey, brick building with a rounded, wooden door. Near the roof of the building was a sign with the word's "Howell's Tavern" written in faded golden ink. The girls went inside to be greeted by a warm and cozy atmosphere. The sounds of the outside were suddenly silenced by the insides of the inn. It was a medium sized room with a small table and chairs on the right side. The scent of the wood floors was musty, yet nostalgic. A large set of stairs presumably led up to the bedrooms of the guests. Behind a auburn counter sat a kindly old man, obliviously reading a book.

"How can I help you?" the innkeeper asked. He then observed the wet state of the three women. "Oh gracious! I take it you three need a room?" Aya nodded. "That... would be nice." The man nodded understandably. Before going up the stairs, Beatrice turned to the innkeeper. "I'm sorry to bother you, but where can I find the library of this town?" Beatrice asked. "You might want to ask Malcom. He's the main librarian. I'm pretty sure gossip would be his second job if that was possible." The maid smiled. "Thank you very much." She soon joined her party up in their room.

Aya awoke several hours later. The sun was high in sky. The werewolf yawned and stretched out her arms into the air. The mouse she had grabbed earlier was poking out of the maid's apron pocket. "You still didn't throw out that mouse yet?" Aya grabbed the rodent by the tail. "I guess I'll be the one to do it, then." She placed the mouse into her bag. "At least, in the future." "Good morning, Miss Aya. I take it you slept well?" Beatrice was sitting in the corner writing in her small notebook. Aya nodded. "I'm glad to hear that!" Beatrice exclaimed. Aya laughed. "Well, I do tend to sleep like a log, as they say." Beatrice smiled. "I know exactly what you mean." She got up and opened the door. "Now let's find this Malcom fellow, shall we?"

Before they knew it, the two girls found themselves outside a rather large library. Aya opened one of the doors. It creaked ever so slightly. "Hello?" she asked. The library, despite supposedly being open, was rather void of customers. Bookshelves stood along the walls and in the middle of the library. Several round, wooden tables were dotted around the surrounding area. Stacks of rather large books were placed near the respected bookshelves. "Is someone there?" a voice as smooth as velvet asked. "Hello there. Are you still open? We're looking for someone named Malcom." Beatrice explained. The voice chuckled. "I see. Well then, I guess you found what you were looking for." A figure stepped out behind a bookcase.

Aya was taken aback. Instead of a human standing in front of them, there was a rather large black cat standing on two feet. It wore a purple vest with silver trimming and a pair of white pants. Its emerald green eyes peered out from a pair of small round spectacles. "Hello there. Is there anything I can help with you with, my dears?" Aya stood there in shock. "Y-you're-" "-a cat? Yes, yes I am." He said with confidence. "I take it you're Malcom?" Emilia asked. "Depends. Why exactly do you wish to know?" "What do you know about a person with black wings and breath that makes you choke?" Aya asked. Malcom raised a dark eyebrow, then thought for a moment. "Hmm... I feel like would know someone like that. Perhaps a small fee could job my memory?" He grinned.

Aya blinked. "You can't be serious." "On the contrary, I never joke when it comes to money." Malcom retorted, still putting away the stack of books. "Why don't we just give him a big ol' fish instead?" Aya quipped, which resulted in a rather embarrassed Beatrice. "How much are you asking for?" Beatrice asked. "Because it's important that we find this would-be assassin." Malcom gave a look of amusement. "Assassin? Pardon me, but you don't look the type of girl to be assassinated." "It's... a long story, Mr. Malcom." "Well give me something and I might tell you what you ladies need."

All of a sudden, something clicked within Aya's mind. "Well we don't exactly have a lot of money on us at the moment. Would you accept this?" Aya pulled out the dead mouse from her pocket. The cat's eyes lit up. His tail flicked as he stared at his desired snack. "Ah yes, I think you're beginning to job my memory a bit." She tossed the mouse and in one fell gulp, ate the mouse as if it was nothing. He purred ever so pleasantly. "Thank you SO much for the treat, dear girl!" Malcom then stroked his chin with his paw.

"If my memory is correct, I believe there was someone who looked like that say they were heading to the south on a boat. But then they got swept up in a group of older men, so who knows what those four could be doing now?" He purred, staying up at the ceiling in a daydream. "I could only imagine..." "I'm fine, thank you very much!" Aya exclaimed, trying to escape the perverted cat as fast as she could without getting spotted. "I appreciate all the help." Beatrice said. "Ah, and one more thing," Malcom said, returning to his stack of books. "I would advise you to be careful traveling. There have been... stories, let's just say, of sailors going out to sea, only to be met with a grizzly fate." The girls nodded. "I think we can handle fate, but thank you." Beatrice said. She looked down to the ground as she followed her companion out of the library.