Chapter 7: A New Lead
As Garrick pressed the button that would send him back to the world he'd found, he felt confident that the silver-haired boy would be in good hands. His daughter was kind and gentle and a good leader. As far as he was concerned, he had no reason to worry.
The dining hall faded around him, and Garrick found himself back in the world where he'd discovered the supposed son of Blaine. Little had changed since his departure, though the sun was now a little higher and a large rodent had picked up a sizable piece of the pastry that the boy had dropped in his surprise and was currently trying to haul it into a large crack in the wall of a nearby building.
Garrick typed into his Chimera, his curiosity about the silver-haired boy distracting him for another moment as he sought how different the flow of time was in this world compared to the Nascent. His lips pursed as he read the words on the screen. "Roughly twice as fast… weird for being this close to the Nascent," he murmured to himself. But it was important to know. It meant that an hour here would mean two hours back home. He'd need to make this trip as quick as possible to avoid being kept away from the Nascent for too long. But as long as his relatives weren't calling him in a panic asking him where he was, he figured he would be fine.
But this steep time flow difference also meant that it had been roughly thirty Nascentian years since his brother Blaine had fled this world.
Garrick had seen his brother since then, but Blaine hadn't mentioned having a child. And it didn't look like Blaine had bothered to return and check in on the boy in that time.
He dismissed his Chimera, the device vanishing from his palm. He stretched his arms over his head, muscles shaking as he released the tension from them. So much had already happened today, and he had a bad feeling there was even more ahead of him. But for now, things were calm, and he could look around this world for clues about a different brother's disappearance. The trace of Conrad that he'd sought had to be nearby. The end of a tunnel was usually within a hundred feet of whatever desire had been typed into the device. He was just grateful for whatever had caused his Chimera to send him down a deserted alleyway where no one could see his sudden entrances and exits.
Garrick headed toward what looked to be a main road, where merchants were setting up large, colorful booths from which smells both sweet and savory were wafting.
He was just about to round the corner, when a young girl ran right into him, smacking into his chest like a fly against glass. She thumped to the ground and stared up at him in bewildered shock, and then her eyes narrowed into a suspicious glare.
"Who the hell're you?" she demanded before Garrick could say anything. She pulled herself to her feet and brushed dust and embedded bits of rock from her palms. "What're you doing here?" She eyed his bloodied but vibrant clothing with a level of wariness, as though second guessing if she really should've just spoken like that to someone dressed in such nice fabrics. Or maybe she was wondering if Garrick had murdered their original wearer.
"My name is Garrick," he answered simply. "I'm here to look for someone."
She looked him up and down and then grunted. "Alright, s'long as you leave me out of it," she said, and then she slipped past him. "Dante! Hey, Dante!" she said in a whisper hissed between her teeth. "Damn it…" she kicked the rest of the pastry that hadn't yet been hauled off by scavengers. "Where'd that idiot go?"
Garrick looked back at her, briefly wondering if she was looking for the silver-haired boy he had taken away. He remembered the boy saying something about waiting for someone.
"Hey," she girl said, her tone snappish and accusing. "You didn't happen to see which way a boy with silver hair went, did you?"
Garrick couldn't help but chuckle as his internal questions answered themselves, and it earned him another sharp glare from the girl. "I did see him," he said. "But I took him away from here, where he'd be safe."
Her hands clenched into fists at that, and her glare darkened into a glower. She charged at him with a roar, but Garrick didn't bother moving out of the way. Her tackle didn't budge Garrick from where he stood. In fact, it was almost more like she had run at him to hug him. When she realized that her attack had been ineffective, she swung her arms at him, bapping him from one side and then the other.
Garrick sighed, and as gently as he could, he pried her off of him and held her at arm's length.
She fought against his arm, trying to shove forward to attack again. "Give him back!" she snarled through a faceful of tears and snot. Garrick worried for a moment how much of it was on his clothes and how difficult it would be to get out of the silk, but then remembered that there was already dust and some blood on his outfit from his earlier fight with the dog-headed monster. No amount of cleaning would save this outfit.
Garrick sighed. "I know this might seem like I'm some sort of kidnapper, but that's not the case. Listen to me, please," he added as she made a swipe at his arm with her nails like a cornered cat. "Silver hair like that is a common trait in my family, and the name he gave me for his father is my brother's name. He's likely a relative of mine, so I took him home to get one of these." Remembering Dante's awed reaction to the Chimera, he held out his hand, fingers curls and palm facing the girl, and then he summoned his Chimera.
Her tears and struggles halted immediately, her jaw going slack. Confident now that she would no longer attack, he let go of her and used the hand not holding his Chimera to straighten his clothes. He waited for her response, watching her curiously, but she said nothing, her eyes locked on the device he held. He began growing concerned by her silence as drool overflowed the corners of her mouth and ran down her face as she forgot to swallow in her shock. Hoping it would help, he dismissed his Chimera once again.
Her mouth slowly closed, and she gulped while rubbing at her face with the back of her arm to remove the drool as well as the residual tears and snot. When she lowered her arm, she finally spoke. "W-wait… That idiot is a prince?!"
Garrick chuckled. "Not so much, no. But he is of noble blood."
Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air on land. "That means that-" She froze. "No way, you're a noble too. Oh no…" She collapsed to her knees. "Forgive my rudeness!" she said as she bowed low on the ground.
"There's no need for that. You didn't know," Garrick said, stooping down and hooking an arm about her elbow to help her to her feet.
"But if there's anything I can do for you," she pleaded.
"I do need a bit of help, actually," Garrick said. "Have you seen a man named Conrad around here recently? He's about my height and carries a bow and a quiver with always exactly six arrows in it." It wasn't the best description, but his brother had a sort of every-man look to him and was good at blending in. His weapon and the number of arrows he chose to carry was one of his few distinctive qualities, and it did tend to stand out when people bothered to take the time to look.
She shook her head. "I can't say I've seen someone like that," she admitted.
"That's fine. Do you know if there's a tavern near here?"
She nodded and pointed down the road. "Go down that way, and you'll find The Sleeping Dragon. Dante's uncle Tobias runs it."
"Thank you," Garrick said with a gentle smile. "Now, is there anything I can do for you? I bumped into you pretty hard back there and gave you a bit of a fright."
She shook her head blankly, so Garrick turned to go. He had only taken a couple steps when her voice stopped him.
"Actually," she said, "there is something, but it's more for Dante."
He turned to face her. "Oh?"
"Yeah, um, his uncle is kinda an asshole and he stole something from him. It looks like this." She pulled out a cloth bag from one pocket and picked open the knot at the top, opening it to reveal what looked like a metal windchime made from thin, silver pipes. "It's his mom's. If you could get it back for him, I'm sure he'd be really grateful."
"I'll see what I can do," Garrick said, doing his best to avoid an outright promise.
"Thanks," she said. He hesitated a moment, and as Garrick started walking again, she added with reluctant bravado, "and I know you're a noble and all and I'm not supposed to say something like this, but just you know, if I find out you've hurt him..." She trailed off, letting her unspoken threat hang in the air between them.
He nodded. "No need to worry. I won't let any harm come to him," he assured her with a quick glance over his shoulder.
Her body was tight, her face pinched in concern.
"He'll be safe with me," he added. "I'll take good care of him."
"You better," she mumbled.
Garrick lingered a moment longer and then continued on his way, traveling down the road she had pointed to as he searched for the tavern and for Conrad.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
stone