Detail

They arrived in front of a building. It seemed normal, a bit too normal for someone who could tear their face-off, the group thought, but they followed Michael anyway because they didn't have any other choice. Although it seemed as if it was Michael's first time here. He led them with a small piece of paper from his jacket pocket. They went in passing no one, went up the stairs to the 3rd floor without running into anyone or hearing any sound. It was as if the building was deserted. Michael didn't know where they were going; the constant groans he made as they kept on passing and circling back to rooms showed it.

'Ah, here we are,' he said with a relieved voice.

'I'm not sure about this guy,' Noah whispered to Sofia, who nodded in agreement. Michael opened the door after struggling for a while, then turned back and said

'Welcome' with a bright smile. Noah and Sofia hesitated at the door, second-guessing their decision to follow Michael. On the other hand, Ana strolled in without a care in the world, forcing the other two to follow. As soon as they entered the spacious room, it was beyond anything they could have imagined. There were five doors, all leading to different rooms. It had a gorgeous kitchen, a living room with a tiger's fur as its rug. An office-like area with a large shelf littered with books; it even had a fireplace which gave the room a comfy feeling. But what drew everyone's attention was the balcony that showed an amazing view of snow falling on the sleeping city. Even at night, it was magnificent.

'Sofia, there should be some glasses over there; you can check if they work for you.' As he points at the office space.

'Now, if you'll excuse, I need to go freshen up,' Michael says as he enters one of the rooms before exiting and entering another. Noah helped Sofia towards the office, where there were a handful of different glasses on one of the shelves.

'Why does he need so many glasses' Noah mumbled to himself as he helped Sofia try them on. They went through about half of them before they finally found a pair that had a lens similar to her prescription. After which the lot decided to walk around a bit, all going to different places.

Noah went to the kitchen. 'Ha, check this out; there's so much food in here.' He said while going through all the cupboards.

Sofia went to the rooms to see how they looked like. All the rooms had a large bed with silk beddings. She went through the wardrobes, filled with clean clothes, which meant someone lived here.

Ana made her way to the office space, where she stood in front of the desk for a moment. Not sure why she couldn't bring herself to move towards it or why she couldn't stop shuddering. So she decided to ignore it and go to the books instead before taking a stroll throughout the house. Something she found weird here was that there were no pictures at all. Not even one, maybe she was the weird one, she thought as she made her way back to the living room with both Noah and Sofia sitting there as well.

'It's a nice place.' Noah reluctantly commented.

'Yeah, but something feels off about it. It's like someone lives here, but they don't at the same time.' Sofia said as she looked around the living room.

'Yeah, I noticed that too.' Noah said as they all looked at each other. Moments later, Michael came out of the room. He had changed out of the white shirt and jacket and into pajamas. He then made his way to the chair closest to the fireplace, where he started a fire and then sat down.

'So shall we start? Why were the Guardsmen after you guy?'

'Guardsmen?' Sofia asked, surprised.

'You don't even know who kidnapped you?'

'Who are these Guardsmen?'

'You haven't answered my question,' Michael says as he crosses his legs.

'You want us to answer your questions, but you won't even answer ours. How can we trust you? For all, we know you could be working for these Guardsmen.' Noah chimes in, crossing his legs as well.

The three knew that Michael was very suspicious, but he wasn't a danger to them, but he could become one if he saw the necklace. Michael smiled as he sat up in his chair, staring Noah down, but he wouldn't give in.

'They are gangsters, mainly positioned in North Europe. About a few years ago, a couple of kids took out an old gang, and two of those kids started their gang. Lately, though, they've been growing in power, even establishing relations with other nuisances. I don't know why they came after me or how they even knew where I was.' He says as he starts staring at the fire. 'There's probably a mole,' he mutters to himself.

'Now I told you what you wanted to know, now tell me. Why did they target you lot?' No one answered. They all stared unblinking at the floor, slowly realizing how serious their situation was. Noah looked at Ana, who understood right away, and pulled out her teddy bear. Michael stared at the bear blankly for a while before turning to Noah, who nodded his head. Ana slowly unzips the back of her bear before pulling out the necklace. Silence enclosed the room for a moment as Michael's eyes widened, and he just sat there staring at it.

'The crow's tears,' he softly says. 'Why do you have this? Where'd you get it?' He asks as he sits up in his chair. All the eyes in the room turned to Ana. 'I-It's a family heirloom,' she stuttered.

'A family- wait, that's not possible where-' he paused for a moment. 'Where's your family?'

'They died.'

'What!?' both Noah and Sofia respond. Tears start falling down Ana's face as she starts explaining,

'There was a fire- papa and – they're all gone.' she says as she breaks down crying. Sofia goes to comfort her and asks, 'Where were you going then?' Ana takes a moment before answering, 'Papa said if anything ever happened, I should go to Paris. He has a friend who owns a cafe there that would help me 'A fire, huh,' Michael muttered. 'Wait, what's so important about this necklace that these people would kill us for it, and why did Ana's father have it?' Noah asked.

'Well, it's complicated, but in short, K stole the Crow's tears from the Sultan of Begghar about 20 years ago. It's a very sought-after artifact, with some organizations willing to wipe out entire towns for it. One of the main reasons it's so valuable is because of who stole it.' A somber smile appeared on his face for a short while before it disappeared 'K, although he hasn't been seen for around ten years, he is still revered by many. I guess he's dead now.' As his eyes trail off towards Ana. 'So, in short, you're all screwed, but don't worry, I can help you get to Paris; at least I know a guy there that could help you guys.' With those last few words, a sense of hope was renewed in the gang. 'Thank you.' Noah says after a sigh of relief. 'No problem, I was headed there any way I –' A sudden knock on the door disrupted him.

A heavy silence filled the room as Noah, Sofia, and Ana tensed up. 'Calm down; this is a safe place very few people know about is.' He says as he stands up and heads to the door. An old man with a fedora handed him a newspaper before tipping his hat and leaving. Michael turned around and returned to his seat.

The words (Ordinem) were written on it. 'Ordi-Ordinem? I don't think I've heard of that one.' Michael chuckled before saying 'Well, let's say it's a special brand. He then flipped through it, clearly looking for something, when he suddenly stopped at a letter. When he opened it, a smile popped on his face. 'It seems we'll need to take a detour. Sleep well tonight friend because tomorrow we're headed to Berlin.'

–

Back to the hall, Jean finally arrived with the twins. As soon as he saw the bodies on the floor, he ordered the twins to search the area for anyone suspecious. He then ran into the office of a wounded Arthur on the floor.

*Arthur, what happened?*

*That little- girl.* holding his hands over both his eyes.

*We need to get you some help.* He says as he tries to help him up.

*Don't touch me! I move by myself!* he staggers up, panting as Jean guides him to his seat.

*Jean, call Siren, tell her I need to talk.* As soon as he finishes, a knock on them starts them. An old lady stood there with a newspaper.

*Who is it?* Arthur shouts.

*Don't worry, it's a runner* he goes to her, pulling out five coins from his pocket and giving them to her. She smiled and left. Her smile sent shivers as he flipped through it.

*What's up?*

*Not much it's the usual. Another K imposter was executed, the bloon's value rose by three, and there will be an auction in Berlin in 2 days.* *What's the main attraction?* He froze for a second after reading it *- it's the last piece of Uruk's map.*

There was a stillness in the room before Arthur said *Jean, no matter what, get me that map* Jean nods.