Unknown - 2

"Mr. Angel!" A high pitched voice yelled, her footsteps low against the crowd that she ran from. Her mother tried to hold onto her and prevent her from giving the flower she held.

But Gabriel merely shook his head at the mother and let the girl approach him. He crouched slightly and smiled, wrapping his wings into his back.

"For me?" He asked, pointing to the flower with a smile on his face.

The girl nodded and smiled straight into his eyes, yellow pupils that seemed to have some sort of mystical property to them.

Gabriel took the flower in his hand and smelled it for a moment. A black flower with an inner circle of pure white petals. A flower unique from any of the others he had seen around this place. 

Gabriel nodded, his eyes partially closed as he waved the girl away, a small thanks on his lips as he made sure to guide her back to her mother.

"That was nice." Rosa perked up, her voice barely a whisper as she took Gabriel's hand in her own and led him further through the plaza. 

A bell rang, the door creaking slightly as both Rosa and Gabriel stepped foot into the merchants' temporary set up. His doors were decorated with product after product. Mostly luxury goods that couldn't be found elsewhere.

But it begged the question of whether he was a native or not. Or if it was merely Rosa that was one.

"Howard! Guests!" 

Gabriel startled, his gaze pointed towards the man at the counter, his bored eyes gazing in apathetic interest towards Gabriel's wings. 

Rushed footsteps rang through the building, rushed yet even. As if to preserve some dignity at least.

While waiting Gabriel took one more look at the counter, the items that were placed there, and the man himself. 

'Where have I seen him?' Gabriel wondered to himself, his eyes set into a glare as he tried to remember.

But soon the footsteps rang louder, signifying the entrance of Howard, the merchant.

"Gabriel." He greeted, a bow and his eyes pointed down in a reverent gaze.

"Howard." Gabriel greeted back, taking a seat at a nearby table. Only to be gestured to follow. He did, but with a bit of an embarrassed blush.

Gabriel followed the gesture and with it was led to a private enclave upstairs, set with various dishes, each of them picked at or eaten with different amounts of bites.

"My apologies," Howard began, his voice low and his eyes wandering around the room. "I was just eating, I'll have someone clean it up right away."

A snap and he sat down, and soon after the table was cleared by a servant. He loomed over and took the plates in his hands.

But what drew Gabriel's attention the most was not the outfit, nor was it the impassionate face he held. It was the slight bend to his ears that ended with a sharp point.

'An elf'

Gabriel side eyed the elf once more before he let go of the matter and focused on the merchant in front of him.

"Let us cut to the chase." 

Gabriel once again began, ignoring any byplay that Howard had tried to initiate.

"To the chase, was this not a friendly visit?" 

Even if Howard phrased it like this, a tilt to his head and questioning eyes. Gabriel knew by the slight smirk and lean of his body, that he had been expecting this.

After all, one did not make it far without some social skills, not in Howard's business at least.

"Of course this is not a friendly visit," Gabriel glares, "I came for information."

"Information?" He gestured for one of the servants to approach, "What kind?"

"On the undead, I need to know why they came here, this type can not be the work of some common necromancer, meaning it must be some powerful artifact or a person on the level of a king."

Howard tilted his head once more and gestured for his servant to fetch something, what it was Gabriel could only guess at.

"And what makes you think that I know anything about this?"

Gabriel smiled before shaking his head.

"I never said that you knew anything, I just wanted to know of any unusual occurrences, or anything that you might find attractive in the area. Particular resources, and other such materials."

"Sir…" A servant interrupted, his voice low and quiet as he handed the papers to Howard.

"I see, that being said there is not much that I can do for you, however I do have some documents of interest if you feel so inclined."

He held his hand out and tapped at a certain paragraph on one of the documents.

Gabriel looked down and read it over, then read it over once more.

It was a myth, one that was perpetuated by the commoners more than the nobles. But that made sense as the nobles switched out every so often, taking charge then leaving for something. 

But the commoners, they have been here their whole life, and so have all of their ancestors.

-Out of the 800 that have been interviewed 789 of the families have a similar myth of an ancient pearl that spewed out black miasma, vanquished by a sword that still lies here today. Most have said, and this conclusion comes after cross referencing and taking the most common statements, that this city was built around that pearl, that it is a part of a greater evil.

Gabriel took the papers, gathering them into his hands before leaving the shop. Many thoughts on his mind. But even as he did so, pondering what had been written, he stopped and felt the flower he had been given.

The strange feeling that it emanated, and for once felt as if he had been given a clue. And so he held the flower tightly to his side, careful to keep it undamaged, all as he unfurled his wings and rose to the sky.