As the chaos started to quell in the market, Danton soon
realised that there were now in a precarious position. They had a young girl
passed out and a man dead in his wheelchair, both Guldspar, the latter their
leader. He tried to coerce the group into dumping Braxx's body somewhere out of
sight, before they were caught and accused of his murder. Raneaux, Xera and
especially Eryn wanted nothing to do with it. He was already concerned with the
fact that he might be recognised up here, let alone with a dead body. He looked
down at his case of wine and his aged brandy, and told them he would meet them
back in Darkperch. Whatever business Danton had, Eryn now knew he wanted to
have little to do with it as possible, now knowing who his family was.
Eryn departed as Danton and Jarvan lifted Braxx off of his
wheelchair and into a waste trough outside what Danton had presumed to be a restaurant.
They were, to Danton's relief, unobserved and to that effect attempted to rifle
through Braxx's belongings to see if there anything of value. Unfortunately for
him, he found nothing and in the processes, was nearly spotted by one of the
Metricious trying to regain his stall. Danton quickly dusted himself down and
glanced over to his sister, who was standing with his back to him along with
Xera.
Both of them did not wish to have any part in what Danton was
doing but had their own reasons not to leave. This was especially true of
Isadora. She had kept to the back of the group while they went in search of
Raneaux's Narrkonis Atrium. Raneaux had to be supported by Jarvan as they
walked and her directions were not exactly precise. Isadora had allowed the
girl to lead the group astray as she had other thoughts on her mind. There were
shouts of disbelief from Danton in front, responding to Raneaux's claim that
she had managed to grab a windrunner from one of the merchants. This perked up
a response from Isadora in her usual bladed tongue, only to be met with a
similar response from Raneaux. The clash was uncharacteristically one-sided. Danton noticed that his sister had
become slightly more withdrawn and she did not argue back. He dropped to the back of
the group, trying not to obviously garner her attention. He was soon tapped on
the shoulder and the pit of his stomach sank a little.
Isadora pulled him over to one side, with Jarvan stopping a
few feet in front and raising an eyebrow. She was visibly nervous and refused
to make eye contact. She almost whispered under her breath that she had tried
to visit Danton multiple times when she was younger but their parents refused.
She told him she had tried everything to see him, to which with shaky hands, she
removed her gloves. The skin beneath was scaly with a hint of green and purple
and her nails had been obviously filed down from what he presumed were talons
or claws. Danton looked down in horror and despair. He had piled so much hate
against his family that this was not something he hadn't even conceived. He
blamed himself. She told him that she should have been sent away, sent to
Danton but instead they hid what she had done to herself. Their family couldn't
loose another child, especially not to Nastrond. Since the age of eight, she
had been forced to wear gloves to cover up her skin, and had her nails filed
and clipped, so that she seemed as human as possible. Danton didn't know what to do or what to say.
She then meekly asked him a favour, mentioning she had started to see things,
things that Danton would know. He knew what she was asking for and without
hesitation ushered her even further away from the group. He told Xera and
Raneaux to continue onwards, although Raneaux was not happy about not being
supported anymore.
Danton patted himself down, looking for the container of
Nastrond, and without looking inside, gave her his last pill. She soon was
sleeping peacefully on Danton's coat, propped up against the wall. He stood
opposite her before sliding down the wall himself, not knowing what to do with
her. She seemed at peace, almost happy. A seed of jealously sprouted in him,
she had been kept in the family, her transformation kept secret. He, on the
other hand, had been discarded by the side of the trail with his brother
Christophe taking his birthright as Master of Shins. It was as if he had been
erased, while she had been cherished. He turned to his butler and asked him
what he should do. His reply was what he had to tell himself, every time Danton
took Nastrond. He had to wait for her to come out of it, and to support her for
the first few disorientating minutes. Then she'll make her own decision. He
sighed and agreed and looked over his pill case, now realising himself that he
had given his last pill to his sister.
He grunted at the realisation and in response Jarvan offered
to head back to Qi to acquire some more from his laboratory. It was at that
point Danton realised Isadora must have a supplier somewhere and knew that all
he had to do was wait for her to wake up and get the answer out of her.
In a short while she had come round and was groggily trying
to stand up. Danton rushed to her aid and
after she was able to stand on her own, Danton asked her who supplied
her with Nastrond. He knew that the family
had stopped production of it after the incident with himself. She
bluntly said that since she was now running the family business in Auspar, she
was her own supplier. Danton slapped her almost instinctually. He yelled at her
for messing with forces that she did not fully understand, she had already been
stupid enough to take the drug in the first place, and to Danton's disbelief,
she was now also his rival in the trade of it
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