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enchanting-sea-lamp · 2 years

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Hell made of glass (part i of Labyrinthe)

TW: vivid descriptions of gore//implied parental neglect//cursing//french people

Nadja wasn’t one for parties, she was repulsed to even make eye contact with her father’s guests, unable to correctly interact with them in any sort of way and it just made her feel worse about herself, however her father carefully instructed her nanny Isabella to get her ready for the cocktail party he was holding for his constituents and Isabella couldn’t go against her boss, even if it meant having to subject poor old Nadja to all that faux torture

all the way down in Nadja’s room, both Nadja and Isabella were getting ready, Nadja was wearing her old party dress while she stared out her bedroom window looking down at two security guards playing cards and talking playful banter with one another as Isabella was getting ready to leave, you could tell her room was the only place in the entire mansion where one could feel warmth and joy, the rest of the manor cold and frigid, blue with all the light coming from the windows, Nadja hated being in the house all by herself, as she had been usually by her father, thankfully Isabella was there for her, as Nadja strapped her dress on she sat in front of her vanity table while Isabella followed behind her with a comb

“oh hehe, look Marcus lost again” Nadja said looking out the window

“he’s always been a sore loser, trust me I’ve played bridge with him” Isabella said bringing Nadja over to her vanity to do her hair

“do I really have to go this time?” Nadja protested

“don’t shoot the messenger kid, I’m not the one forcing you to go” Isabella said “I’m just doing my job honey”

“PLEASE Bella!” Nadja insisted “those people are so far up my dad’s ass they’re practically in his kidneys!”

“precisely, its gonna be fine, they’ll all be too focused getting attention from your dad to notice you’re there, you can sneak away at any given moment and go play cards with Markus and Hermann”

“please stay Bella I can’t take it”

“Nad, I wish I could but I have guests over today”

“oh”

Nadja looked solemnly into the mirror with a worried face while she gripped her hands, Isabella noticed, she knew Nadja wasn’t comfortable with handling these sorts of situations

“still could you stay a little longer?” Nadja asked

she looked at herself in the mirror with the tremendous guilt weighing her down enabling her to keep brushing her hair she sighed and told Nadja

“ugh, can’t believe I’m doing this—” Isabella said “Look I’ll only be gone a couple hours, I’ll return after I’m done just for you caprese?”

“REALLY?!” Nadja exclaimed, she jumped out of her vanity seat and bear-hugged Isabella “OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!”

“alright alright Nad” Isabella said

a knock on Nadja’s door made itself clear as Aria, Isabella’s co-maid appeared to fetch Nadja

“Nadja dear, your father is searching for you, he wants to make an entrance with you there” Aria said

“got it, see you later Bella!” Nadja said

“bye kiddo” Isabella replied

“three hours?” Nadja whispered

“three hours!” Isabella whispered back

Nadja left her room gleefully as only Aria and Isabella remained

“leaving early I see?” Aria asked in an accusatory tone with the darkness around her eyes growing darker

“yeah you know, I invited people over, can’t have them waiting long” Isabella answered

“I take it these people are those jackals you always surround yourself with?”

“whoa there, always is a bit of a stretch, maybe every other week but always?”

“do you ever think of her when you do these things?!” Aria accused in the same tone as before but her demeanor shifted as she gotten closer to Isabella their faces only a half inch away from each other

“always” Isabella got away from her almost making her way to the doorway before aria grabbed her arm firmly and swiftly and looked at her as the darkness in her eyes only exceeded

“then you would know they only bring trouble with them”

“will you relax, I’m not planning anything substantial I’m just going to a get-together with some friends, they just happen to be the people you can’t stand” Isabella swatted her hand away from Aria’s grip

“will you listen to yourself, what would Nadja say when she finds out who you hang out with are a group of drunk, delusional and deranged idiots who think just because they’re loud enough they can bring change to this city”

“she’d say, please take me with you I can’t take being holed up here any longer”

“you jest, but just so you know one day you will have to answer for your crimes, and the judge, jury and executioner might just not listen to your case”

“right, do you know where my bag is?” Isabella sarcastically replied as Aria took a sharp exhale and replied “down the hall in the broom closet”

Isabella, grabbed her bag stashed between the brooms in the broom closet, a duffel bag filled with her personal belongings, as she put it on her back and sneaked out of the broom closet and out of the estate, the blue moon lightly casting its light over everything, the only proper lighting coming from the mansion’s stained glass windows, as she made her way through the exterior of the house a shadow cascaded over her and she was caught off-guard by it seeing how she wasn’t walking underneath or behind anything, she turned to see the silhouette of a security guard, she sighed a huge sigh of relief and made banter with the standing man

“sorry I thought you were something else there!” Isabella said

“…” the standing man didn’t answer

“you alright there you look a little torn up” Isabella said

“…” he once again didn’t answer

Isabella began to get suspicious, all the other guards knew her very well, matter of fact she had a good relationship with a few of them, she got closer to the man leaned forward to see him

“hey buddy—”

the sight of what she saw standing there was indescribable, whatever it was it sure as hell wasn’t human, its skin was pale to the point where it’d be considered a light green, it’s jaw unhinged to where its teeth were damn near falling out and those that stayed intact were grossly colored brown or a faint yellow, the hair was falling out its head and slowly creasing out of the head, and the eyes, oh how could she forget the eyes, they were a blindingly bright yellow with tiny black dot for an iris, it looked at her and reached out with its maggot infested hand, spores growing fervently out of it

“I…feel….fantastic”

the standing thing said before assuming back its normal position, Isabella fled faster than anything else, completely disregarding the regular path she’d take back home anything to get away from whatever it was, she had somehow made it to the city’s residential area a little far from her house but still there, she took a second to breath in after running so far she felt numb in her legs, once she took a second to recollect her thoughts, once she realized what she had saw over there, the fear was almost about to consume her entire body, nonetheless she regained her footing and took a deep breath

‘its fine Isabella’ she thought ‘it’s probably nothing, don’t worry yourself, it could’ve been the moonlight, you know how hard it is to see in the dark— oh who are you kidding he damn near looked dead!

she somehow convinced herself what she saw there was unreal, upon being successful in her self-gaslighting she realized she was close to her house and out of the many things plaguing her mind at that moment she quickly remembered

“THE MEETING!”

Before she was even in her own apartment building her guests made their way into her apartment, with the key she supplied them with in case of emergencies, of course the emergency in this case was them not wanting to wait any longer.

“Marie, ma cherie, how many times do I have to tell this, this is a revolutionary meeting not a party you don’t have to make bakeries for us!” Jean-pierre exclaimed with a cigar in one hand and a glass of Isabella’s wine in the other

“oh but you can bring wine and cigars?” Marie Abdul protested as she brandished out her cookies and cakes for the rest of the Jackals Club to eat “you know you’re the only one complaining”

“oh pour l'amour de Dieu!” Jean-pierre exclaimed as everyone was giggling and laughing at him

“Alter schwede! when will Isabella get here, we’ve been here for a good half-hour!” Wilhelm complained in his husky voice staring out Isabella’s window

“we’ve been here for ten minutes Wilhelm” Antoine corrected him in his wistful and quiet tone “and stop drinking I’m not carrying you back home again, I broke my back the last time trying to carry you!”

“Oi stop being such a baby, I only had six HAHAHAHA!” Wilhelm replied putting his arm around Antoine and messing up his hair

“MONROE TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I GET VIOLENT!” Antoine yelled

“one moment, I’m about to win- wait no ach mon dieu!” Monroe complained as he played his hand in a poker game against Armstrong “thanks a lot I was just about to win that!”

“hahaha, too late!” Armstrong delighted as he grabbed his winning money from the center of the table “why don’t you try and play a real game eh?”

“you brought a card game too!?” Jean-pierre yelled “peoples this is not a party it is a meeting!”

“will you relax Jean, the meeting hasn’t even started what do you expect we would be doing?” August asked as he lounged on Irwin’s lap drinking from a gin bottle he brought over

“ack, I don’t know we would be discussing with one another about the topics of the day, while Louis took notes and we smoked cigars and drank wine, not this!”

“speaking of louis where is he?” Irwin asked after taking a big sip of August’s gin bottle

“he isn’t here?!” Monroe asked carrying a half-intoxicated Wilhelm away from Antoine “I could’ve sworn he was with me!”

“no Monroe that was me, you kept calling me Louis remember?” Marie explained

“Ah Merde not again!”

a loud and quick knock was heard from outside

“I’ll get it” Marie said reaching for the door, Louis emerged half-soaked in street-water looking in discontent over at Monroe and the rest of the Jackals

“Ah Louis, Dieu merci, I thought I forgot you!” Monroe said

“oh so you didn’t forget me!” Louis exclaimed naively

“yes, yes I didn’t forget you I just got-uhh, distracted!”

“so you did forget him!” Wilhelm laughed to himself falling on the ground

“ugh!” Louis exclaimed throwing his jacket on the hanger next to the door and sitting next to Armstrong

“ay Louis forgive me, I just saw an old friend and I lost track of time!” Monroe justified

“whatever Monroe” Louis said as Armstrong handed him a cigar

“cheer up Louis at least he didn’t forget you at one of those police checkpoints again!” Irwin joked with everyone apart from Jean-pierre and Monroe laughing

“oi, quiet!” Jean-Pierre exclaimed, they all heard faint footsteps coming from the hall outside, that of a muddied leather boot, upon hearing the door swing open, out came Isabella, sweaty, tired and out of breath.

“OH GOD!” Marie Abdul exclaimed upon seeing Isabella “My darling are you alright?” she came to her aid, taking off her coat and bag from her and looking into her shaken and disturbed eyes

“uh-huh, yes I’m just fine!” Isabella replied shakily

“right, Isabella’s here we can start the meeting!” Jean-pierre said ignoring Isabella’s pitiful state only for the other members to go a different direction and focus on Isabella, the entire club helped her sit down.

“Isabella Alles Klar?” August asked as the group transported her to a couch

“yeah yeah, I’m fine!” Isabella brushed off

“Bella, dear, look at yourself you’re not fine!” Irwin said

“you look like you were run over!” Wilhelm chimed in

“or seen a ghost!” Louis added

“or were stoned half to death!” Armstrong also added

“alright, ALRIGHT!” Isabella exploded “I get it I look bad, but can we just get the meeting over with!”

“ugh THANK YOU!” Jean-pierre said

“please dear, can you lay down a little?” Marie asked her sincerely

“I’ll do it afterwards Marie” Isabella bargained as she held Marie’s hands

“promise?”

“promise!”

“ok everyone done?” Jean-pierre impatiently asked while everyone looked at him with annoyed stares “OK GOOD LET’S START!”

“tell me has this man not taken enough from us as is?” Antoine commanded as he spoke from the top of his lungs while the club members huddled around him smoking and drinking in a room that was exceedingly starting to smell like burnt cannabis.

as Isabella laid down on her couch with a half-sober Wilhelm sitting on her right side and a worrisome Marie holding her hand on her left side all listening to Antoine’s fiery speech.

“Psst, Willy” Isabella whispered to Wilhelm, he leaned closer to her accidentally spilling some gin on himself

“Ack!” he exclaimed quietly “What Bella?”

“How’s Antoine’s brother holding up, I heard they caught him a few days ago”

“Ja, that they did, they found him smuggling cigars and dirty magazines from Moers, poor guy they even extended his sentence in the Glass Labyrinthe!”

“for smuggling dirty rags and cigars??”

“and a treason charge apparently”

“nah that’s overkill”

“your telling me!”

“He’s turned children to orphans, men and women to widows and housed families homeless people roaming the streets aimlessly just for them to be caught and thrown in jail, and what do we have to show for this!?” Antoine berated “a saint who has a body count is not a man of god!”

“Quelle salope!” Louis joked as an uproar in laughter commenced

“uhh, what does that mean?” August asked Marie

“slut” Marie told August

“christ, I was just asking a question!”

“precisely Louis, write that down La Salope Vincenzo” Antoine ordered “comrades, I will be upfront with all of you, as you all know I have a wife a kid and sadly a brother in law”

Wilhelm laughed and pointed himself as if to say “HE MEANS ME!”

“these are all people I love, people I cherish, ones who I couldn’t see myself having to identify the corpses of, especially not my daughter claire, and to think that we’ve all had to do it in the past, that’s what makes it more heartbreaking”

A silence rung out through the room, the sense of dread hit the group like a brick wall, New Venezia wasn’t a delightful city, not in the slightest, a city with the nickname “the Saint’s Mortuary” was bound to be a city with no prospects, the Jackals all knew this none more than Isabella, a woman who had to identify her parent’s corpses after they had been murdered, a woman who had to retrieve her ex-fiance’s ashes after a fire broke out in the city and a woman who was left to work at the young age of 13, with little to nothing to her name.

“let’s put an end to our mortuary visits” Antoine concluded as sharp yet scattered applause followed his speech, as Jean-pierre came up to speak with Irwin following him to the middle of the room, Isabella rolled her eyes and sat upright.

“love?” Isabella called for Marie “can you pass me the bottle, I need to be drunk to take that man seriously”

“ack, come on Bella, keep an open mind maybe he’s got something good to say today!” Marie replied

“do you know who your talking about, Jean-Pierre’s only good for one thing and one thing only and that’s how many cigars he keeps with him”

“I heard that Isabel!” Jean-pierre exclaimed

“oh good, your ears work!” Isabel rebutted

“hmph!” Jean gestured

“Bella, mon amour, I know you and him don’t get along, but he is our leader and like it or not you’ll have to listen to him sometimes” Marie said

“cruel irony isn’t it?” Isabella replied

“very much!” Wilhelm chimed in

“my fellow comrades” Jean-pierre announced “we have come far, from our days as an old drinking group, when it was just me and Irwin, to a group of like-minded, fascinating and bright individuals, all capable of toppling this tyrant and his tyrannical ways!”

“I mean come on Marie are you hearing this, he’s talking out of his ass!” Isabella whispered to her lady

“come on, he’s just drunk” Marie said

“and now, we shall take our next most drastic step” Jean-pierre announced with the settling suspense from that single sentence sending shockwaves through the room, what on earth could he mean by that, his cryptic nature only added to the weird suspense filling the room.

“I see I have your attention, hehe” Jean-Pierre said “Louis, make sure you’re taking notes!”

“Yessir!” Louis pulled out his notebook and pens and waited with baited breath for his next sentence, however Jean-Pierre trailed on

“are you writing this down this is very important—”

“OH JUST TELL US JEAN!” Monroe exploded

“alright alright!” Jean gestured “Irwin, you can take it away”

“right,” Irwin announced “we’re going expose the Saint!”

murmurs and chatter chimed through the room ones specifically of confusion and anxiety

“are they serious?” Marie whispered to Isabella

“I guess so!” Isabella answered

“Bella!” Wilhelm called for her “take this away from me, I’m starting to hear things” He handed her a bottle and glass of wine he had

“Mein Gott they can’t be serious!” August fumed

“oh they’re serious!” Monroe said

“these idiots will get us killed!” Armstrong exclaimed

“I knew I should’ve started writing my will!” Antoine said

“at least you HAVE things to bequeath!” Louis said “I’m coming up with blanks for my will!”

“please please, everyone calm yourselves!” Irwin announced “you’re not hearing things, you’re not hallucinating— we’re going to expose the Saint and his council”

“and how do you suggest we do that Einstein?!” Armstrong asked

“I was just about to get into the Armstrong—” Irwin said before Jean-Pierre interrupted him

“Since you asked Armstrong— allow me to explain!” Jean-pierre said, he pulled out a wire from his pants’ pockets “this is a wire, a wire that one of us will place in the Saint’s office, once the wire is placed in a secretive location, preferably one where we’re able to listen in on his conversations, then we’ll transcribe his conversations and look for the real juicy bits, and publish those, that way we’ll be able to get people to see the true version of him and expose him to the point where he’d have no other choice to step down!”

Isabella stared in disbelief, as she knew the minute Jean uttered his first sentence of his life-threatening plan, that she’d be the one tasked with bugging Saint Vincenzo’s office, it made her furious, neither Jean or Irwin consulted her about the plan, a plan that she would be instrumental in, if she wasn’t careful she could very easily go into the Glass Labyrinthe and never see Nadja ever again, she’d never see Marie ever again she’ll be forced into a life of isolation and torture over a misstep that she wasn’t even consolidated upon.

“so I must ask you” Jean-Pierre said facing the room, he stepped towards Armstrong and held his hand in his “will you publish our findings Armstrong?”

That just added salt to an open wound, as if Isabella didn’t matter enough, he asked Armstrong first before he even asked her, she felt absolutely humiliated, and Marie could tell

“just think of the glory, think of the infamy, my name in future history books, all of our names for that matter!” Jean continued on “what do you say Armstrong-”

“no”

Jean halted in his steps as those words echoed through the room, Jean-pierre slowly turned around and with a stunned look on his face with his cigar falling on the ground and being put out immediately upon falling on the ground

“what do you mean no?” Jean-Pierre asked “d-didn’t you hear what I just said?”

“every bit of it” Armstrong replied “I just can’t—my editor, he’s a close friend of the saint’s, and- and if I publish that, it’ll be the end of me, I’ll be thrown in the Labyrinthe!”

“it’s a small sacrifice Armstrong, a sacrifice in the name of progress DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND!?” Jean-pierre fumed

“Jean-” Irwin said

“NO DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?!” Armstrong replied yelling “I ALREADY LOST PETER TO THE LABYRINTHE, I’M NOT LOSING MYSELF TO IT I HAVE A WIFE AND KIDS JEAN!”

Armstrong stood like a skyscraper amongst tiny settlements, he looked down at Jean-pierre with uncontrollable rage and fury, enough to explode a man, Jean-pierre looked up in horror and disbelief as his plan crumbled upon impact, he inched backwards and slumped on the ground, his arms on his knees looking down on the ground the darkness around his eyes growing darker and darker

“cheer up Jean-Pierre, we can come up with something else” Irwin said

“everywhere I fucking go— Everywhere we go he’s there, its like he has eyes in the walls!” Jean mumbled

Isabella sat there looking at Jean-pierre with disgust and loathing, for this man was supposed to be their leader, a man who crumbles upon the biggest setback, does he not have a backup plan, does he not think ten steps ahead like a good leader, he is a coward, a coward with no plan and no backbone, the room began to feel hopeless as if they were sinking into the ground when Louis stood up slamming his notebook on the ground yelling

“I’ll do it!”

Stunning the room even more

“No Garcon, don’t do it!” Monroe warned “you’re far too young!”

“And your health there’s no way you could do it with your condition!” August said

“Let the boy talk Monroe!” Jean-Pierre interrupted

“Look, I know I’m not the best candidate—” Louis said before starting to get a coughing and wheezing fit “I-I’m young and I’m diseased!” he battled to speak through his coughs as the stress of the situation had triggered his asthma he pulled out his inhaler and continued to talk “B-but if there’s anyone you could trust the notes with its me, I haven’t lost a single one since we started having the meetings and if anyone’s going to transcribe them it should be me!”

“Louis, young man look at yourself, you start coughing and wheezing at the first sight of stress, I don’t think transcribing highly classified material from the office of a highly powerful and deranged lunatic will do you any better!” Irwin commented

“Please sir, you all have family and loved ones to worry about, if I go no one will miss me you’ll all be fine” Louis added

“Louis don’t do this— you’re just a kid!” Monroe said with tears in his eyes

“I am no kid, I am a Jackal” Louis stated with all the courage he could muster up at that moment

“THE BOY WILL DO IT” Jean-pierre announced as Louis rejoiced, the rest of the Jackals still worried for if Louis gets caught the club has a child’s blood on their hands

“Jean!” Irwin yelled “the boy is sixteen, you can’t be fucking serious!”

“OH!” Jean-Pierre exclaimed “ OH please, I don’t see you coming up with a better idea!”

“Sirs, please it’ll be fine!” Louis interrupted “I know everything about these sorts of things I can manage just fine!”

“Ah there, you heard the boy HE’LL MANAGE!” Jean-Pierre exclaimed

“Jean, we should still reconsider this, Louis could hurt himself doing this!” Antoine said

“You know we still haven’t decided who would place the wire!” Marie added

“Not now Marie we are discussing it!” Jean-Pierre said

“Ugh!” Marie scoffed

“FORGET IT PIERRE!” Monroe yelled clutching Louis aggressively “YOU WILL NOT TAKE HIM FROM ME!”

“Monroe you’re hurting me!” Louis said the blood in his arms stopping circulation

“Monroe let the kid go, you’re going to give him another asthma attack!” August said

“LET HIM GO MONROE!” Armstrong yelled

“Why so you could take him from me?!” Monroe yelled, Louis started wheezing and coughing uncontrollably

Amidst the chaos that ensued in her own living room, Isabella stood up from her seat grabbing the empty wine bottle from Wilhelm’s hands and smashed it against the wall of the section all the members stood in front of, stunning everyone there and waking up Wilhelm, she dropped the bottle on the ground while maintaining eye contact with everyone there

“Monroe, let go of the boy or your head is next” Isabella ordered as Monroe released Louis’ arm from his grip allowing the boy to reach for his inhaler “Right this is how things will go, I will put the wire in the Saint’s room and give you all the transcripts in return you will complete this task precisely how I plan it to go!”

“What on earth are you saying?!” Jean-Pierre fumed “this is MY plan what authority do you have over this mission?!”

“Oh Jean, I know you’re not the brightest man in the world but even the most half-witted of half wits know what my role in this whole operation is” Isabella told Jean as she looked down at him

“She’s right Jean” Irwin added “who do you think will put the wire in the saint’s room?”

“And what does your plan entail per say?” Jean asked

“Glad you asked, once the bugged room is set up Louis will write down the transcript and sign it using the Jackals Club alias at that point Armstrong you will publish the pamphlets only he’d have to work overtime and in secret, and from there, Antoine, Irwin you will pass them onto your clients and law associates but be discreet we don’t want anymore of us going to the glass house over this, Wilhelm, you make sure to spread these via word of mouth around your factory job, August you make sure all your patients leave with one of these pamphlets, Monroe you pass these onto your fellow army men make sure they all get one of these but don’t you dare pass them to anyone you don’t trust I know how your regiment operates, as for you Mein Liebling, any man or woman you service these next few nights take your caution with make sure they can never trace it back to you, and that goes for the rest of you, everyone understood that?” Isabella explained as she made her rounds across the room

The room entirely stunned at her meticulous effort and thought, she had clearly put a lot of effort into this plan and it showed how sure of herself she was, she was ready to fire into the night with this plan and die with it she could.

“Hold on a second!” Jean-Pierre interrupted “I don’t do anything in this plan!”

“That’s simply not true, you’ll be supplying us with cigars and wine, every successful revolution needs one!” Isabella added

“W-well we need to vote on it!” Jean added “all in favor of the plan?” Everyone besides Jean-Pierre raised their hands seeing as everyone was willing to follow Isabella’s more rigid and well-thought out plan

“Fine Brutus-” Jean-Pierre scoffed

“Can we go back to partying now?” Wilhelm asked almost pushing Jean-Pierre over the edge

the meeting had come to a close and it was time for the Jackals to make it to their house, as Isabella stood out her door’s entrance, with glimpses of whatever she witnessed over at the Estate still haunting her, she tried not to focus on it and more on the victory she had achieved that meeting

“Good night Hortenz, may we see each other next week same time?” Jean-Pierre said

“Of course, your house this time, I’m not letting you barbarians back in my house ever again” Isabella commented sarcastically “you damn near woke up all my neighbors, lucky none of them care enough to stop you”

“What a cruel thing to say, even after this entire time you still insist on mocking me?” Jean-Pierre responded coldly

“Oh come on Jean, it was just a joke, learn to take one!”

“Quelle chienne” Jean-Pierre lit a cigar as he left her hallway so coldly and unforgivingly

Next Wilhelm and Antoine emerged, to put it more aptly, Antoine emerged half defeated as Wilhelm slumped drunkenly onto his back

“Didn’t I warn you not to drink so much tonight?!” Antoine complained

“Didn’t I warn you not to fuck my sister five years ago!?” Wilhelm replied

“Ugh— goodnight Isabella”

“hehe, do you need any help with him?

“No No, this isn’t the first night I had to take him back home like this” Antoine replied

“Bella!” Wilhelm belched out “D-did you know Antoine fucked my sister even though I told him not to, he betrayed me so violently, would’ve been better if he’d just stuck a shiv in my back!”

“Oh I’m sure Willy goodnight!”

“Nighty-night”

Armstrong emerged under the door that was twice less his size, he put a deck of cards in Isabella’s hands and told her

“Goodnight Isabella, I’ll keep these with you, I don’t want my young ones finding these in their father’s possession”

“Oh wow, a father that keeps secrets from his wife and kids, how do you have it all?”

“Goodnight jester” Armstrong sarcastically remarked

“Father of the year everyone!”

Irwin and August made their way out of the door half tired and half drunk, the were complete messes, Irwin was wearing August’s glasses and August had been wearing Irwin’s coat and hat both laughing over the ordeal yet not bothering to fix anything about it

“Haha, goodnight Bella liebe” August remarked

“Night love, and I’m sorry for that yelling match we had, I tell ya I was this close to punching Jean across his dumb groggy ass face!”

“You and me both comrade”

“Oh before I forget!” Irwin said pulling out a small wire out of his pants pocket “you know what to do with this!”

“Sure do”

“Be careful out there dear, you don’t know how many drunks are out there!”

“Tell yourself that August, you’re going out not me”

“Oh Oh ja ja, you know how I get after a few drinks”

“I’m hoping you stay this way all night mon cherie~”

“Oh I love it when you speak French to me~”

“Oh god you two, get a room!” Isabella complained

“Gute Nacht Bella!” August said as they both left Isabella’s doorway

And lastly Marie had stumbled to the door wearing her high heels and scantily clad clothes that emphasized her curves

“Right I’m heading out, busy day today— I well— busy night” Marie said

“When will I see you again Mein Liebling?” Isabella asked raising Marie’s chin upwards

“I won’t be long, just have to make my rounds through Saint Vitus street, you know the men there a big spenders!” Marie replied

“Remember what I said be careful walking through there” Isabella reminded her

“Ack, Bella I know these things, don’t you worry, I’ll be back before sunrise okay dear?”

“Alright sweetheart~”

Marie kissed Isabella on her cheeks leaving a rose-tinted lipstick stain on it

“Oh by the way Louis is fighting with Monroe inside, you might want to check that out” Marie told Isabella before taking off in a hurry

A disappointed and annoyed Isabella walked back inside to see Louis sitting on her couch looking disheveled and distraught

“mein Gott!” Isabella exclaimed “what happened to you, where’s Monroe”

“Monroe jumped out of your window and ran off some alleyway, I tried reasoning with him but all he did was yell back at me, he’s been like that all week!”

“Looks like he’s having another one of his episodes” Isabella said sitting next to Louis “We’re you fighting about something?”

“Oh we weren’t fighting, more like he was neurotically talking to the wall about me in a mean tone” Louis explained

“Oh Louis” Isabella said “I take it you don’t want to go back with him”

“He forgot me twice today, you won’t believe it”

“Oh no trust me, I believe it” Isabella reassured Louis “look, Monroe is well-meaning, unfortunately his brain up there is way too scrambled to even function properly”

“So what I should just give him a pass because his eggs are scrambled?” Louis asked

“Whoa I never said that, Its just something for you to keep in mind, Monroe functions differently than all of us, for him its a very thin line between casual everyday events to back on the battlefield, that shrapnel really did some damage up there” Isabella explained

“Hm, I don’t know I’m just very mad at him today, I can’t take getting forgotten by him another time, I get he’s dealing with his own things but that doesn’t mean he should neglect me”

“You’re right” Isabella said

“Well then I’m off!” Louis abruptly said “au revoir!”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second!” Isabella grabbed Louis and sat him right back onto the sofa “Where are you going?”

“Oh well I’m going to find a place to sleep, maybe a park bench, maybe Wilhelm’s house this one time this store let me sleep in their broom closet in return for me stacking their cans!”

“No no, you’re not sleeping on the streets, you’re sleeping here tonight” Isabella insisted

“Sorry?” Louis asked

“What you heard me, get a pillow and a blanket you’re sleeping here tonight”

“But I’ll make your couch dirty I’m covered in bog water!” Louis protested

“So what, that couch had already been through hell a little water won’t change anything” Isabella replied as she went to fetch Louis some pillows and a blanket

“W-what if the neighbors come by asking about you?”

“Then tell them I’ll be back”

“What if they ask who I am?”

“Tell them your my brother, they’ll totally buy it we have the same hair”

“A-and Marie, surely she’ll be disturbed with my presence!”

“Marie would die for you, stop bitching and sleep on the couch already”

“B-but, when will you be back?”

“Oh give me an hour or so, I’ll be back by then”

“I-Isabel,” Louis pleaded “I don’t want to be here”

“Why not?” Isabella asked carrying pillows and blankets

“I-I won’t lie anymore, I wasn’t late for the reason you think” Louis confessed “I mean Monroe forgot me and all, but I arrived so late because I was attacked”

“WHAT?!” Isabella fumed “what did they look like what happened, did they hurt you?!”

“N-no, I escaped before they could do anything, but they got my wallet”

“W-well what did they look like?”

“That-that’s the thing, I’m not sure they were alive”

Isabella hurriedly grabbed a large knife from her kitchen and a note that has all her contact numbers on it, she gave them all to Louis as she covered all the windows and grabbed an extra knife for her to leave with

“Don’t open the door for anyone you don’t know, if you hear any commotion outside ignore it, it doesn’t concern you and don’t you dare leave the house, not until the sun is up” Isabella commanded

“Y-yes of course” Louis replied timidly

“Now you’re sure of what you saw?” Isabella asked

“Y-yes, o-of course I do!” Louis said “how can you forget what that thing looked like”

“Alright then, don’t you dare forget anything I said” Isabella said as she left her apartment and locked the door, leaving Louis on edge for the remainder of the night.

A chill went down Isabella’s spine as she boarded the tram line to the estate, knowing that whatever she saw coming out of the estate wasn’t a figment of her imagination but a real thing, that someone else had witnessed, her blood turned cold and her face began to sweat, what if she had ran into it once more, what would it do to her if she came across it once more, a terrifying prospect indeed. She began distracting herself with the plan she thought out for herself, synchronizing and detailing how she’d place the wire in her mind, she remembered how Svetlana, one of her fellow maids, usually delivers Saint Vincenzo some tea to his office come midnight, there was almost an entire hour before that would happen, she could come and get Nadja out of that party in time and still have some left over time to sneak the wire into the room.

“Hey Lady!” the bus driver yelled “are going to get off here or what?”

Isabella looked out the window and realized they had reached the estate five minutes ago, she left in a hurry and tipped the bus driver with sixpences as the bus left after she had gotten off Isabella walked towards the estate only to be surprised by the guests all waiting out the gate for their drivers, which was odd, usually they’d stay up till midnight and now they’re leaving preemptively, she spotted Hermann standing guard with Markus overseeing all the party guests as they all left one by one, she squeezed through them and managed to get Hermann’s attention.

“Hermann!” Isabella yelled “Hermann what’s going on?”

“You didn’t hear?” Hermann asked “some murderer escaped the Glass Labyrinthe and is on the loose, they suspect he’s coming for the saint”

“W-why the saint?” Isabella asked

“Well he was the one to sentence and torture him, I don’t think they’re on the best of terms!” Hermann said

The gravity of the situation hit Isabella like a rock to the face, she squeezed past all the other guests and made it inside the estate being greeted by a gaggle of maids and butlers closing off everything, doors, windows and exits, nothing was about to get past them as per the Saint’s instructions, Isabella ran to Nadja’s room passing Svetlana making the saint’s tea, Aria ordering the maids to board up the windows and doors, Frau throwing the leftover food from the party into the trash and Angela helping Aria with her orders. She finally made it to Nadja’s room, she quietly and slowly opened the door to see Nadja sitting in her room wearing her pyjamas and reading books on the ground, Nadja turned around to see Isabella in her doorway and she was beyond ecstatic

“BELLA!” Nadja yelled as she ran at full speed towards her and hugged her, catching Isabella off-guard

“N-Nadja, how are you doing?” Isabella said closing the door behind her and stepping into the room

“I had the worst time at that party, Lorraine was so annoying you won’t even believe it, he kept on insisting I stay in the party room!”

“Man what a bitch!” Isabella said closing Nadja’s blinds and locking the door

“What are you doing?” Nadja asked

“Oh well, there’s a bit of an issue outside” Isabella said

“Is that why everyone else left?” Nadja asked “which, thank god by the way”

“Yeah, there’s sort of a prison escapee situation going on” Isabella said

“Oh no that’s awful”

“Yeah, so don’t leave your room no matter what, you hear me?” Isabella ordered

“Wait, you’re going to stay with me though right?”

“Yes of course Nad, just let me deal with something real quick”

“wait don’t leave me here!” Nadja protested “I don’t want to be by myself anymore!”

Isabella had a tough choice to make, go do her revolutionary duty, or comfort Nadja, both so important to her whatever should she do, finally she thought of something, something both dangerous yet ingenious, more dangerous than anything else she had thought of in her 17 years of working with the saint.

“I’ve never held a knife this sharp before!” Nadja exclaimed as she wielded Isabella’s knife while she cowered beneath her, they stealthily walked through the hallway avoiding any form of detection, specifically from Aria, as they made their way to the saint’s office

“Don’t hold it like that—”Isabella said “You’ll stab yourself in the heart!”

“Oh right!”

“So why are we going to my dad’s office?”

“Oh you know, safety reasons, he just doesn’t want you to stay alone in your room while some wacko walks around trying to kill people”

“Well that’s a first!”

“I know your dad sure cares today huh?” Isabella lied

Isabella and Nadja finally made it to her dad’s office which two security guards stood in front of, subsequently the same time as Svetlana who carried the Saint’s tea and food

“Bella?” Svetlana asked “Mon Dieu what are you doing here— is that Nadja?”

“Ah, Lana, dear— just the person I was looking for—I was about to tell you that his Sainthood wanted Nadja in his room for the night, you could never be too cautious am I right?” Isabella explained

“I suppose?” Svetlana said “but why does Nadja have a knife with her?!”

“self-defense, you never know what might happen, wouldn’t want her to be defenseless eheh” Isabella cautiously said “here let me take that tea from you, you take Nadja’s knife— problem solved!”

“UH—His Sainthood expects me to be there!” Svetlana said

“Another night Svetty, there’s a deranged lunatic on the run!” Isabella yelled as Nadja opened the door for her and they both entered in

“Bye Svetlana!” Nadja said

the two ladies entered Saint Vincenzo’s elaborately decorated office, the fireplace was burning and his wall filled with animal heads stared at the both of them as they walked in front of the Saint’s desk with him sitting pondering upon the fireplace, he turned around and was shocked to see the both of them.

“Nadja? Isabella?”

“Your Sainthood~” Isabella said kneeling down with the tea tray in hand

“Hello father!”

“what are you doing here?” He asked

“Well, Nadja’s room was such an easy target for the loose lunatic and I thought maybe this would be safer for the both of you, seeing how your office is heavily guarded and sanctioned your daughter shall be safer here than in her room!” Isabella explained

“It’s alright father, I’ll be quiet for you”

“Yes, Yes— but I meant you Isabella, didn’t you leave early today?” Saint Vincenzo asked

“oh well you know, I was just walking back home when I realized I still have some work to finish so I rushed back here as fast as I could to finish my job, because THAT is how devoted and loyal I am to your cause” Isabella lied pulling the quickest lie out of her ass

“nice save” Nadja whispered

“Well then— thank you Isabella” Saint Vincenzo said “please, place the platter there”

the moment had come, the best possible out for a fake-out, Isabella took the dive and literally dove in front of the table, the crash of silverware and China ceramics colliding with one another with the crashing sound startling both Nadja and Vincenzo, they both jumped out of their seats at the mere sound of it

“Ach nein!” Isabella said “I’m so sorry forgive me your Sainthood!”

“Ow my ears!” Nadja exclaimed

“Are you alright dear?” Isabella asked

“I’m a little shaken but I’ll be just fine”

“ISABELLA!” Saint Vincenzo yelled “you come here unannounced and unasked for and you drop tea all over my carpet have you no shame?!”

“My apologies your sainthood allow me to fix it for you” Isabella apologized, she leaned into Nadja’s ears while Saint Vincenzo wasn’t paying attention and whispered into her ears “distract him for me”

Isabella got on her knees and began to set up a wire as she pretended to clean up, Nadja a little confused looked back to her for guidance but all Isabella did was mouth the words ‘talk’

“S-so dad, who’s the lunatic trying to get you?” Nadja asked looking back at Isabella giving her a thumbs up as she continued to set the wire

“Oh just some murderer, I sentenced him to life in the Labyrinthe without a possibility and now he’s escaped and coming for me, you know the usual stuff—” Saint Vincenzo said

Nadja looked back down at Isabella who urged her to continue while she hooked the wire to his desk and under his carpets

“Uhm, father” Nadja struggled “d-did you have fun at the party?”

“OH Nadja, sweetheart, one doesn’t have fun at these sorts of parties, they are nothing but a facade one puts for his underlings, to make sure they are satisfied for the moment” Saint Vincenzo replied

“So no?”

“No I hated it”

Isabella got mad at herself, seeing how that would’ve killed it on the transcript, but alas she kept on going as quick as possible

“I didn’t like it either, too stuffy for me” Nadja replied

“No Nadja you’re supposed to like parties, how else would people know who you are if you don’t throw them?” Vincenzo clarified

“Wait so am I supposed to hate them or love them?” Nadja asked

“Love them of course!”

“But you just said you hate them”

“Of course, I despise them with all my being but you have to hold them!”

“Wait I’m confused, why can’t I just talk to people?”

Saint Vincenzo erupted into laughter with tears dripping out his eyes, luckily at that point Isabella had finished hooking the wire onto the table, unluckily she had to clean up her diversion, so she looked back at Nadja and asked her to stall for a few more seconds.

“You don’t just TALK to people Nadja, they’re who you’re trying to get away from, when you’re a public official you should just focus on your job and ONLY your job, whatever people say is secondary of course”

“Right, right I guess?” Nadja mumbled “S-so any plans this weekend?”

“As a matter of fact I do— and it involves you!”

“O-Oh!” Nadja exclaimed “really?”

Isabella hastily started pushing the tea into the tray but it wouldn’t go as fast as she’d like, so she went faster and faster accidentally knocking her head into Saint Vincenzo’s desk

“Isabella!” Vincenzo cried out “WHAT ON EARTH IS TAKING YOU THIS LONG?!”

“S-sorry sir, I’m just doing my best!” Isabella falsely apologized

“Clearly not!” Vincenzo cried out, his harsh demeanor angered Nadja, not wanting to have yet another fight from the both of them this week Isabella quickly scrubbed faster this time.

“As I was saying, I’ll be taking you to the Glass Labyrinthe on the weekend, show you around, show you off, its about time you left the estate” Vincenzo announced, the news coming to Nadja as a shock, rarely does her dad allow her to leave the house, let alone accompany him, and now he’s letting her accompany him to the city’s biggest monument, Nadja was excited but still angry, all while Isabella could only hear one thing,

Saint Vincenzo is taking his young daughter to see a prison of which a dangerous prisoner had escaped from and trying to hunt them down as they were talking

“That’s- that’s great news dad, I was wondering if you would let me leave the estate for something else though” Nadja requested

“Oh?” Saint Vincenzo said “and what might that be?”

“I want to go to the Arcane library this weekend, I just heard they released new books from the isles there and I wanted to read them!”

“Oh dear, why there?” Vincenzo asked

“Why not there?”

“You know I hate that shabby old joint, if I could I would’ve turned it into a worker’s facility so why do you want to go there?”

“B-because it’s a library, and I love libraries” Nadja said, it was as if Isabella could hear her heart shatter over her father’s mean words

“I don’t know— maybe if we end early at the Labyrinthe but I don’t see it happening in the near future”

Isabella couldn’t understand how one person could be so cruel and unforgiving with the most inconsequential statement ever known to man, she knew the saint never spent anytime with his daughter anyways to learn anything about her, but even that felt heartless.

Isabella was done cleaning she picked up the platter, more importantly the wire was placed in a hidden and secure area where no one could reach it, she ushered Nadja to come by her side and said

“Well, that’s all of it, again I am sorry sir” Isabella said as she held out her arm for Nadja to grasp

“This’ll be coming out of your paycheck Hortenz, I hope you learn from this mistake of yours” Vincenzo said

‘I’ll stick a wick up your ass see what mistakes YOU atone to’ Isabella thought

however the words that did come out of her mouth were

“Yes your sainthood have a restful night”

As she and Nadja left the room they both heard noises from the end of the hall of a, the two security guards rushed to the sound as Isabella abandoned her tray and pulled a knife from inside her pant leg which was strapped onto her socks

“You had a knife tapped to your legs this entire time?!” Nadja asked

“No time to explain get behind me!” Isabella said

While she and Nadja inched closer and closer to the sound, upon arriving to the source of the sound a gaggle of guards surrounded what seemed to be the man Isabella had met earlier on, with the whole pale skin and spores growing out of his body description to match, to follow the security guards a few maids and butlers came around including Aria and Svetlana, Aria rushed to embrace Nadja upon seeing her cowering behind Isabella

“NADJA!” She cried “Are you hurt? Did the bad man touch you?!”

“No Aria I’m fine, Isabella protected me” Nadja replied, Aria looked back at Isabella wielding a knife in one hand

“I thought you left early” Aria said

“Oh I came back— no reason just felt like it” Isabella sarcastically remarked

The three ladies turned around to see the man being handcuffed and detained by the guards, his head was split open by Svetlana after she had stumbled onto him walking the hallways aimlessly, as saliva poured down his mouth and his eyes twitched feverishly, Isabella stared at him, realizing he matched the same description that Louis described and the man she saw as she left the estate earlier on

“Svetlana!” Isabella cried running towards her “are you okay did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me, I’m a hero!” Svetlana rejoiced

“You’re way too chipper for a woman who came into contact with a murderer” Isabella said

“Honey, I’m surrounded by murderers everyday” Svetlana reminded Isabella, other than acknowledging the sad reality that her and Svetlana were in she simply said

“Well done Lana dear~”

Nadja was led back to her room as all went back to normal over at the estate, as Isabella put Nadja in her bed and followed her through her bedtime routine Nadja stopped in the middle of it, glaring out the window as the officers had came to take the lunatic as they drove him away Nadja let out an audible sigh

“Nad?” Isabella asked “Are you alright?”

“What were you doing in my dad’s room Bella?” Nadja asked

“I promised Aria I wouldn’t involve you in that sort of thing” Isabella said

“Why won’t anyone tell me anything nowadays?” Nadja pondered

“Huh?”

“Aria won’t tell me about my childhood, my father won’t tell me about the city and YOU— You won’t even tell me about the things you were doing, that you were using MY help to do!” Nadja said turning away from the window

“I don’t get to walk outside without a hundred people following me, I don’t get to do things I love without being called weird for it, I don’t get to go to my favorite places and now YOU won’t tell me anything!” Nadja said “I expect this sort of thing from my dad but never you Bella”

Isabella inhaled sharply, she sat next to Nadja on her window sill as she looked into her eyes and told the young girl

“You know, you have done something only a true professional could do” Isabella said

“And that is?”

“Make me break a promise” Isabella leaned in to Nadja’s ears and whispered her entire plan and job to her, Nadja gasped as her body tingled with excitement

“Did you—”

“Yes!”

“And did I help!”

“Yes!”

“So does this mean I’m a Jackal now?”

“Our first honorary member!”

“Oh my goodness I feel so honored I just—” Nadja jumped with excitement she flapped her hands and squealed, she instinctively bear-hugged Isabella once more that night

“Okay okay, calm down kiddo!” Isabella said “remember this doesn’t leave this room— got it?”

“Yes ma’am!”

Isabella left the room after hours of coaxing Nadja to try and sleep when she noticed a certain figure smoking out the window; tall, scrawny with dark hair and pale as a ghost, but she had already put Nadja to sleep so who could it be?

She leaned in closer and made out that it was Aria, she left the estate and came around to the exterior and met up with her older co-worker

“You mind if I join you?” Isabella asked

“No you’ve already gotten into trouble today, wouldn’t want to add to it” Aria replied

“Oh Aria, oh so cautious, oh so hypocritical”

“What do you want Bella?”

“You seem off today— is it something I did?”

“When is it not?”

“Oh come on that’s harsh~”

“I’m sorry Bella, I know you want to make this country better, but unless it disappears into thin air I don’t see that happening anytime soon”

“Why are you so pessimistic?” Isabella asked “we have a chance to fix these things, don’t you want to give it a go?”

“A gave it a ‘go’ some seventeen years ago and all I ended up with was a dead boyfriend and a prison sentence” Aria replied

“I’m sorry to hear that”

“She’s a good kid Bella, all this hope is a dangerous thing for a kid that young”

“I know Aria, I know~”

Isabella tiredly stumbled into her apartment in a groggy and exhausted stupor, she haphazardly took off her jacket and fell onto the ground closing her eyes and trying to nap, only for Louis to talk and instantly wake her up

“Where in god’s name were you it’s been four hours!” Louis complained

“Hello to you too Louis—” Isabella said getting up and going to her bedroom

“I mean seriously where do you get off on terrifying me then lying to me?!” Louis complained

“I’m here now aren’t I?” Isabella said “go to bed for crying out loud”

“How can I when there’s a half-dead man walking around town?!”

“Not anymore” Isabella remarked

“Wait what?” Louis asked

“They caught him, he was a Labyrinthe escapee”

“oh”

Louis had an aura of guilt follow him as it weighed him down, he stared out Isabella’s windows looking in horror, Isabella noticed, she cussed herself out and turned around to ask

“What’s wrong Louis?”

“That was a real man” he said in disbelief “What in god’s name did they do to him?”

“maison de verre des horreurs” he mumbled

“At least you know why you joined the Jackals club now” Isabella remarked as she went over to hug Louis, he clung onto her for dear life as he hid his face into her torso and wept like a crying child

As he wept into Isabella’s shirt she looked out her window overseeing the Glass Labyrinthe in all its infamy, a prison that spanned across the city and reflected the moonlight so graciously for a moment you look at it and forget it’s a prison, but not for Isabella, all she could think of when looking at that thing was

“Die Hölle ist aus Glas und sie starrt mir ins Gesicht”

end.