Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lionel looked at the two wooden doors in front of him, a thin line drawn on his lips.

Susan called for him through a telly, like what he taught her. The telegram didn't say much, it only said that "she found something in his study."

And knowing himself, he came as fast as he could.

He placed his current discovery projects with his new team of adventurers on hold and went straight to his study.

Who knows what Susan found in there, some of his old pictures, old files, maybe even found his personal diary and read it.

But he never truly blamed the Sasquatch, for she has a curious mind just like his.

Lionel took a deep breath in, carried his cane with his gloved hand, and slowly opened the door, trying to enter the room as quietly as he can.

As he pried the door open, he saw his Sasquatch companion standing in front of a set of drawers in the corner of his study.

The same set of drawers where Lionel found the cast of an unusually big footprint that helped him find Susan in the first place.

One drawer in particular was open, but its not the drawer where he found the Sasquatch's footprint cast.

Susan sees him from the door and smiles. "Sir Lionel!" She says in her usual sprightly voice with the wave of her hand.

Oddly enough, she was hiding something behind her with her other hand.

Lionel holds his cane to the ground and leans his weight against it.

He turns her head to her and smiles. "I got your telly," Lionel says in a smooth tone.

"Oh! Right." Susan chuckles nervously, giving him a shy smile.

"What exactly did you find inside my study, Susan?" Lionel asks, looking over the drawer hanging open from behind her.

Susan follows his gaze. "I knew you were gonna get mad at me for going over your stuff without your permission."

Lionel straightens up, grabs his cane, and started walking towards her. He stops his footsteps right in between of her and his drawer, giving Susan a look.

She places her big hand behind her head. "But I found this in one of your drawers." Susan hands him a gritty old parchment, with a still image of a small creature wearing a box.

"I've seen articles about them from some papers in my cave, they were called Boxtrolls. People said that they wander around the streets at night," she says as she points a big finger on the page.

"I couldn't help but wonder, were these things truly a myth?" She asks, pointing her finger on the phrase "Preposterous Myth" written in red ink.

"And look! I found these in there too." Susan brought her hand out from behind, revealing a red covered book, with a small wooden monkey charm on top.

The sasquatch's face contorted into a worried expression as Lionel's face went blank, staring hard at the paper in his gloved hands.

"Sir Lionel?" Susan asks, placing her big palm on his shoulder.

He rolled the parchment back and placed it on top of the red book that Susan has been holding. So this is what she found in the study, he thought to himself.

Lionel felt Susan's hand slip off of his shoulder as he made his way to the small table beside the sofa. He formed his gloved hand into a fist, before grabbing a pen and a paper.

"Sir Lionel, what are you doing?" Susan asks, looking over his shoulder to see what he's been writing.

Lionel folds the paper in half, before looking at Susan with a smile. "Pack our bags, Susan."

"What? But I thought you were planning to go to Ashland with the other explorers," Susan says.

"That trip can wait, my friend," Lionel says with a smirk. "For now, we must go to Cheesebridge."

"Cheesebridge?" Susan asks. "You mean the city where Boxtrolls are found?" She asks again, with the excitement starting to spread on her face.

Lionel placed the red book, the monkey charm, and the parchment in his bag, before looking at Susan with a grin.

"We're going on an adventure."

Chapter Text

Aldous bolted inside the small study, his footsteps were heavy and rushed, coming into a halt once Lionel caught his gaze.

Lionel pushed himself off of his small seat. "Have you found anything, Aldous?" He asks, his brows knitting tightly.

Aldous grabs something from behind the pocket of his polo jacket. "There are a lot of sightings of these creatures lately, Sir." He then handed him a piece of rolled parchment. "We should consider looking into them."

Lionel gave his friend a look, before turning his attention to the paper Aldous had given him. He removed the small tie wrapped around the parchment, and carefully unrolled it.

The first few words made Lionel's eyes pop out of its socket.

"People called them the Boxtrolls." Aldous gestured his hand to the parchment. "Some say they roam the night to scavenge trash from outside of people's houses." Aldous sat on the blue sofa.

"And in Cheesebridge, it was believed that Boxtrolls killed a human child. The town was so horrified, they had a curfew because of it."

Lionel brows furrowed into a glare as he shook his head violently. "Aldous, only a madman would want to catch evidence of these morbid creatures!"

"Its a promising feat, Frost." Aldous shrugged with a sly smirk on his face.

"Sure it is," Lionel scoffed with the roll of his eyes. Aldous only chuckled at him, amused by how furious his friend looked.

"If we get to discover and prove their existence," Aldous points a finger to the paper. "We also get to find out if they're little murderers or not."

Lionel gives him a look. "Are you hearing yourself right now?" He points to his ear as he showed the parchment.

"Seriously Aldous, look at this!" Lionel harshly points his cane at the portrait of the Boxtroll drawn on the paper.

"A creature that uses a box for clothing, with a body less than 100 centimeters long but are rumoured to be excellent builders? We'd be clowns if we are to believe this thing's existence!" Lionel slapped the piece of paper with the back of his gloved hand. "Let alone believe that they are capable of killing a human being!"

"I don't know, Sir," Aldous says in a teasing tone. "Don't you want to be the one who answers the question of what these Boxtroll creatures are?" He asks with a simple shrug.

Lionel walked towards his drawers, laid the paper on the wood, and grabbed a nearby pen with red ink.

"Probably just an urban legend to scare away the naughty kids off the streets," he says as he drew two lines on the paper, stressing the word 'myth' with the red-inked pen.

Lionel tossed the parchment inside the drawer before he slams it shut.

~

Susan stays silent as Lionel says his last words. She looked away from him as she continued to row their small boat towards the quaint tall town of Cheesebridge.

The sasquatch breathed out. "So, that was the last time you two talked to each other?" Susan asked him in a low voice. "You and Aldous?"

Lionel lets her questions hang as he stares at the wooden floor of the boat, lamenting over the memory he shared with his late fellow adventurer.

"Sadly, it was," he nods with a heavy sigh. "Years had passed since his death, yet the existence of the Boxtrolls to the outside world remained alien."

Lionel turned his head to his sasquatch friend. "But not for the reason that they don't exist," he says with a smirk. "But because they co-exist with the town itself."

Lionel nodded his head forward, prompting Susan to follow his gaze. Her heart melted when her eyes landed at the sight nearby.

A family of five were playing near the riverbank along with a Boxtroll. They appeared to be playing a game– Susan couldn't tell what game for sure, but they all seem to be enjoying each other's company.

Their faint laughter grew closer the more the sasquatch rowed the boat nearer, her excitement growing with each pull she makes on the paddles.

Lionel leans closer to his sasquatch friend. "They seem like they know that Boxtroll well, don't you think?" He asks her.

Susan looks back at him. "That family looks lovely," she says with a smile, as the two of them turn their gaze to the family by the riverbank.

The Boxtroll sees their boat approaching nearer to the land, so it immediately hides itself inside their box, making Susan gasp in bewilderment.

"Wow," she breathes out. "I can't believe I'd get to see one of them do that." She shakes her head in disbelief.

As the three children continued their adorable assault on their red headed mother to the ground, the father figure among the family eventually sees Lionel and Susan's boat approaching the riverbank.

The tall brunette man squinted his eyes. "Hello, sirs!" He calls out with the wave of his hand, his voice loud enough to make his wife and kids stop their ruckus.

The red head woman kneeled to the three children, prompting them to move beside her as Lionel and Susan's boat bumped against the muddy land.

Lionel stood up with his cane and offered a hand to Susan to help her up on her feet as well. After gathering their things, they made their way towards the tall brunette.

"Good day, sir," Lionel says as he hops off of the boat, before he walks towards the father figure.

The tall brunette offered a hand to him. "Good day," he says in a casual tone as the two of them swiftly shook hands.

The father figure looks over Lionel's shoulder. "What brings you and your friend here, sir?" The tall brunette asks as he looks them over with his hands landing on his hips.

Lionel looked over his back, seeing Susan hurrying over them whilst she carried their bags, stopping her footsteps just beside him.

"We're here to see some of the Boxtrolls," she says with a cheerful smile. "And I already saw a Boxtroll playing with you and hiding inside its box a while ago," she adds with an eager nod.

Lionel smiles at the sasquatch before turning his head back to the tall brunette.

"We were wondering if we can observe the Boxtrolls that live amongst you in this town," Lionel says. "But in order to do that, we would need permission from the person-in-charge to stay, if you could kindly guide us to them."

The tall brunette raises an eyebrow at them, a smirk gradually forming its way onto the corner of his lips.

He turned to his wife. "Winnie?" He calls out, smiling at the sight of her playing with their kids.

Winnie, the red headed mother, looks up to him with a silent question written on her face.

"Could you come here for a second?" He asks again, tilting his head to Lionel and Susan.

The red head mother turns to her children. "Apple, Antoinette, Arthur, wait in the factory," she says in a hurry.

"Oh, and Arthur." Winnie gently pulls her son's footsteps to a halt. "Poke your Uncle Shoe for me and bring them with you inside," she says with a smile, before letting her kids run free.

Winnie gets up from the ground and joins her husband in the commotion with the two newcomers in the town.

"What do they want?" She whispers as she leans closer to her husband, hooking her arms around the tall man's waist.

"Well," he starts as he wraps an arm around her shoulder. "These two folks wants to stay in the town for a bit to see the Boxtrolls around town."

Winnie rolls her eyes and gives Lionel and Susan a glare. "If you want to get permission, you would need to ask the person-in-charge."

The tall brunette leaned closer to the red head. "But Winnie, you are the person-in-charge."

The glare in her face immediately melted away. "Oh yeah," she says in a quiet tone.

Lionel and Susan looked at each other, sharing confused expressions to each other.

Winnie turns her head to the tall brunette. "Why do you have to be so smart, Eggs?" She asks before tiptoeing just to place a quick kiss on his cheek.

The red head left Eggs's blushing face as she pulled away from him, turning her attention back to Susan and Lionel.

"Well, if you want to stay here, I have to make sure that you two don't mean any harm," she says as she crosses her arms.

"Could I interrupt you for a second?" Lionel points a finger to the red head. Winnie grins at him, keeping her mouth shut.

"Are you really the person in charge of this entire town?" Lionel asks, the doubt present from the tone of his voice. "You don't seem very formal."

Winnie gives a simple shrug. "Lady Winifred Portley-Rind Trubshaw, daughter of late Lord Charles Portley-Rind, the former ruler of this town." She offers a hand for him to shake. "Pleasure to meet you."

Lionel and Susan's eyes grew wide in shock. "Sir Lionel Frost," he shook her hand with his gloved one, before letting it go with a firm nod.

"I'm Susan Link," the sasquatch gasps as she shook Winnie's hand. "You don't look like a lady," she says with the shake of her head.

"My father used to tell me that," she says with a wholehearted laugh. "You don't look too human yourself, now that I notice," she tells Susan.

"She's just authentic," Lionel says with a wink. Winnie lifts a brow. "I could tell," she says with a smirk.

"You seem like nice people." Winnie gives their small boat a look. "Considering I don't see any guns on any of you or your boat."

"Oh!" Susan wheezes. "We're not that kind of adventurers," she says with an innocent smile, making Lionel give himself a mental face slap.

Winnie chuckles as she senses Lionel's expression. "Glad to hear that reassurance," she says.

The red head waves her hand to the two of them. "You two should come join us to the factory!" She says with a grin. "Eggs and his family live there with our kids."

"So, you don't live at the factory at all?" Susan asks.

"I visit them," she says as she walks inside the factory. "As the only child of my father, I still had to look after the town."

Susan and Lionel started following the red head woman towards the factory.

"Luckily, my father allowed me to run Cheesebridge on my own terms." Winnie opened the wooden doors, revealing the whole civilization of the Boxtrolls.

The two adventurers gasped in awe of the sight, seeing countless of Boxtrolls everywhere living in the factory.

A huge mechanical clock stood at the middle, accompanied by the wires and light bulbs hanging from the tall ceiling of the building.

Winnie waves her head. "Come in, come in!" She urges with a grin.

Susan lets out a light giggle, slightly jumping up and down before entering the factory. Lionel smiles at the sasquatch as he steps inside, before closing the doors behind him.

Winnie makes her way to the two little girls, who are playing around with Oil Can, Fish and Shoe.

"This place is amazing!" Susan shouts in a loud voice.

Something pokes her from behind. Susan turns around, seeing two boxtrolls behind her, one with a stick and the other with nothing.

The boxtroll drops the stick, before pointing a finger to the boxtroll beside them. The innocent boxtroll looks at the other boxtroll, confused.

Susan laughs at them, before turning her attention back to the people with her.

"Did the Boxtrolls made all these by themselves?" Lionel asks out loud as he made his way beside the sasquatch.

"They did," Eggs says from the distance, making the three turn their heads to the tall brunette.

Eggs pats Arthur's head, before pointing the wrench in his hand at them. "Everything you see is hand made by the Boxtrolls," he says.

"They did so by recycling the town's junk," Eggs adds, placing the wrench in his hand down.

"Amazing," Lionel says as his roams around the factory.

"Yeah." Susan nods her head as she looks with him. "It truly is."

"Eat with us!" Winnie shouts as Antoinette and Apple held onto both of her hands. "Yes, yes!" Eggs nods his head as he carries Arthur and sits him on his leg.

Lionel smiles. "You folks are too kind," he says. Susan smiles along with him. "Thank you," she says.

Eggs and Winnie started guiding their kids and the explorers to the table, with the triplets pushing two seats to their two guests.

Susan and Lionel smiled at the children, before sitting on their seats. The ground inside started to rumble for a bit.

When the explorers looked around the factory, they both saw the Boxtrolls gathering on the center, along with the tall brunette.

Susan noticed that the Boxtrolls didn't seem to be afraid of Eggs, rather they treated him as if he was one of them.

The sasquatch squinted her eyes when Eggs started to talk inaudibly to one of the Boxtrolls.

The wooden floor slowly splited open, revealing a garden of huge bushes of leaves that housed countless of bugs. The Boxtrolls and Eggs tapped on their boxes with their two hands, before hopping inside the chasm.

To Lionel's surprise, Eggs hopped into the chasm too, and not even a few minutes later he climbed out with a lot of bugs in his hands.

The tall brunette grins at the explorers as his kids cheered from behind. "Dinner is served."

"I'm so sorry, what?" Lionel asks in a worried tone. Eggs lets out a guffaw after seeing the look on Lionel's face.

"I'm joking," the tall brunette says with a chuckle. "You have the choice to eat either cheese, raw bugs, or cooked bugs," he adds as he walks towards their table.

"Thank goodness," Lionel breathes out with a sigh, making Susan laugh at him.

"Now kids, what do you guys want?" Eggs asks his children.

The triplets all raised their hands in the air while shouting "me! me!" over and over again, making the two explorers smile warmly.

"I want some cheese, father!" Antoinette says. "I want cooked bugs!" Apple says afterwards. "And I want raw bugs, father!" Arthur says.

"Alright, you three, calm down," Eggs laughs. "Wait for your mother for the cheese, Nettie," he says with a wink, making Antoinette giggle.

"What about for you two?" The tall brunette nods to Susan and Lionel.

"I'd have cheese, please," Lionel says while placing a hand on his chest. He drags his eyes to the sasquatch. "I'd have the raw bugs," Susan says, making Lionel's eyes grow wide.

Eggs gasps. "Quite daring, aren't we?" He says with a smirk, making Susan laugh loudly.

The tall man gave them all a warm smile before making his way to the small counter where Winnie was setting the food.

Not after a few minutes, Eggs and Winnie arrives at the table with plates, with either bugs or cheese on them.

"Here's your cooked bugs Appy." The tall brunette places a plate in front of the little girl. "And here's your live buggies, Art," Eggs says as he places the plate in front of his son before ruffling his hair.

Lionel tried not to cringe as the two young children ate the bugs that came from the chasm below. "Do they usually eat that?" He asks without thinking.

"They do," Winnie chimes in as she places a plate in front of him and the sasquatch. "They got it both from their father."

"Concerning," Lionel says under his breath as he looks down at the plate with cheese before him. He picks up the fork beside the plate and pokes the cheese, bringing it up to his lips then takes a small bite with a smile.

"Hey Sir Lionel, if you've see people eat yak at Shangri-la, why are you so surprised to see people eat bugs here at Cheesebridge?" Susan says with a laugh as she starts eating the bugs on her plate.

"Plus, the bugs don't taste bad at all," the sasquatch adds with a shrug.

"The bugs are fed with healthy leaves." Eggs sits beside Susan and eats some live bugs along with her. "That's why they taste delicious."

Winnie laughs as she eats her plate with cheese. "We've been married for 3 years, but you will never convince me to eat any bugs."

"We'll see," Eggs says as he gives the red head a smirk.

Susan turns her head to Eggs. "Can I ask a question?" She asks out loud. "Sure." The tall brunette nods his head.

"When you were getting some bugs, I saw you talking with the Boxtrolls, and I'm surprised that none of them were even afraid of you," the sasquatch tells him.

Eggs stares at her with his mouth agape. "Oh," he simply says. The tall brunette blinks his eyes fast as he straightened his posture, taken aback by the sudden question.

"W-well you don't have to answer if you want to," Susan says as she shook her hands. "I was genuinely curious, I'm sor-"

"There's a story that spread about the Trubshaw Baby," Eggs says, cutting off Susan's sentence.

Lionel's eyes furrowed. "You mean the story of the baby who was taken away by Boxtrolls?" He asks, as the tall brunette nods his head in response.

"If I remember correctly," Susan says, "the Trubshaw Baby was killed and eaten by the Boxtrolls."

Eggs throws Winnie a glance, and the red head simply smiles at him. "That's not true." The tall brunette's gaze went back to the two guests.

"How did I know? Because I am the Trubshaw Baby," Eggs says with a nod.

"My late father, Trubshaw Senior, gave me to a Boxtroll named Fish and raised me as their own." Eggs turns his gaze to Susan. "That's why the Boxtrolls aren't afraid of me; I'm one of them."

"How did the townsfolk react to this?" Lionel asks, leaning forward.

The triplets simultaneously pointed to their mother. "Mama!" They shouted in unison, making them all laugh.

The red gave a warm smile. "That's when Eggs and I met as children," Winnie says from her seat. "I helped him unveil the truth."

"And Snatcher was the pesky exterminator that almost got away with killing me and my family," the tall brunette sighs. "I'm just thankful that my voice was heard."

"Wow," Susan gasps happily. "I didn't know we'd bump into the infamous Trubshaw Baby himself, Sir Lionel."

Lionel smiles at the sasquatch. "It is a particular treasure, indeed," he says, giving Eggs a smile.

Chapter Text

Sir Lionel sits comfortably on his study room's pink sofa, reading a newspaper in blissful peace, with nothing but the sounds of the busy streets from outside to keep him company.

The news talks about the recent sightings of the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. His eyes carefully read through the article, taking a mental pin in his mind to investigate this mystery soon.

"Lionel!" Aldous calls from outside as he comes barging into Lionel's study, almost certainly breaking the door handles.

Lionel tilts up his head nonchalantly. "Did you run a mile to get here? You appear to be famished," Lionel tells him as he watches Aldous furiously catching up with his breath.

Aldous bends down, places his palms on his knees and breathes out with a nod.

"Yes," he gasps.

"What's the need for rush?" Lionel asks him.

"I have received a telegram. All the way from Salem, Massachusettes," he says.

"Really?" Lionel says in a flat tone as he stands up off the sofa. "What do they want from us?"

"Someone is asking for us to help them with the supernatural." Ald ous reaches for his back pocket.

He whips out a piece of folded paper, and hands it over to Lionel. "I haven't read the full letter yet, so I can't know for sure.

Lionel gives Aldous a look, before warily grabbing the letter from his friend.

"You do realize that we're adventurers. Not ghost hunters.. right?" Lionel asks him as he unfolds the letter.

"At least read the letter first before yapping, Lionel," Aldous says as he rolls his eyes.

Lionel raises a brow. "I see that eye roll, Aldous."

"Oh, no! That was not an ‘eye roll’, Sir," Aldous guffaws. "I was just checking if my eyebrows are still in tact," he says in a sarcastic tone as he rolls his eyes once more. "Yeah, they're up there."

"Alright, alright, I get your point," Lionel says as he lays out the paper in his gloved hands. He clears his throat before reading the letter out loud.

“My name is Armonn Prenderghast. If this reaches to you, then I am in desperate need of your help."

Lionel pauses, giving his friend a look. Aldous nods his head, and Lionel continues reading the letter.

"As I'm writing this, I am locked in prison because the authorities think I'm crazy!"

Lionel shakes his head. "Does he wants us to break him out of prison!?" He exclaims.

"What!?" Aldous steps towards the other explorer and snatches the letter from his hands.

"That can't be right," he says under his breath as his eyes scanned the paper furiously.

"I am proposing a deal for you gentlemen, as you two are notorious for chasing evidence of particular mysteries..."   Aldous reads out loud.

Lionel leans closer to Aldous to skim the letter with him. Something between the lines catches his attention.

"Two sunsets from now, the Witch's Curse would hit its peak..."   Lionel points a finger on the words ‘Witch's Curse’.

"It is a once in a lifetime sight. Get me out of this prison in Salem, and I will give you evidence of this rare supernatural phenomenon!"

"Lionel..." Aldous tilts his head to the other adventurer.

"I'm gonna be honest, but I don't think we should be doing this," he tells him in a low voice.

He crumples the letter with one swift move of his hand, carelessly throwing it to the carpet floor.

"There are a lot of red flags. Him being in a prison is just one of few." Lionel brings a hand under his chin and rubs it as he carefully forms his thoughts.

"I mean for starters, this man can be a real criminal," Aldous states. "And I don't want to be remembered as a criminal," he adds with a shake of his head.

"Me neither," Lionel says. "But he could be talking about the real deal here, Aldous."

"Are you insane!?" Aldous exclaims as he whips his head to Lionel. "No one believes him! Why should we?"

Lionel lets his friend's question to hang in the air.  He stares intently at his friend, his eyebrows knitting tightly together, lost in deep thought.

Aldous said something earlier that might help to convince him.

He breathes in before replying, "Because he knows we can catch evidence of what he believes in."

Lionel kneels down and grabs the crumpled paper. Aldous crosses his arms on his chest, the hesitation still present on his face.

"We should attempt to understand Armonn's intentions up close before accusing him of fraud," Lionel says as he uncrumples the letter.

"Besides," Lionel smirks, "we can give him back to the authorities if he's lying," he says as he gives his friend a firm nod.

Aldous sighs deeply. "Fine, you win. I'll pack our equipment."

Chapter Text

Lionel and Aldous set forth to Salem, Massachusetts to visit Armonn, crossing their fingers hoping they can take him out for a few hours to see the supernatural phenomenon that he has promised.

Luckily for them, Aldous found a privateer ship recently headed to America that has granted access to both him and Lionel to hop on board for the trip with some of the local merchants.

The captain and the crew allowed them to bring along their multiple luggages (after a few long minutes of convincing them they don’t contain bombs) filled with different equipment such as several backup emulsion plates and wet plates in case of emergencies.

Their plan is quite simple; when they arrive at Salem, instead of breaking Armonn out of prison, they’ll instead convince the authorities to grant them permission to borrow him for a few hours. Hopefully after that, he can give his end of the bargain as fast as he can.

The ship sailed for a few hours, and as of the moment, they're setting up multiple cameras on their shared cabin.

“We couldn't blame them,” Aldous shrugs, “these really look like bombs when you don't know how to use them," he says, attempting to lessen the echoes of the ocean waves outside as he sets up a camera that's ready to take a picture.

Aldous looks over his fellow adventurer, his face contorting into a worried expression. “Do you really think we'll get anything from this one, Sir?” He asks out loud.

Lionel places a fully set-up camera inside of the case, pulling down the lid of the luggage to close it shut.

“We won't know if he's being genuine unless we try, Aldous,” he imposes, before grabbing another camera from a separate luggage to set it up.

“I mean,” Aldous pauses with a grimace, bracing himself for what he's about to say. “Just because you're down bad, doesn't mean you should take shots in the dark.”

“I’m not certain we’ll get anything in everything we investigate,” Lionel says, pulling out another camera from another luggage to set up. “If no one’s going to keep trying, who will?”

Lionel’s gaze landed on Aldous, silently waiting for his answer. Aldous keeps his eyes on the camera he’s fixing as he nods his head silently.

The both of them smile to themselves as they fix as many cameras as they possibly can. It’s only a matter of time before the Witch’s Curse is supposed to happen.

~

The two adventurers didn’t waste any time as soon as they stepped on the docks. They traveled the country from morning until night time in a desperate attempt to get to Armonn as soon as possible.

There’s no room to get exhausted, time is running out.

They arrived at Salem in the early morning, lucky enough to get on a chariot that rode them straight to where the town’s prison is.

The horse pulled into a stop near the prison. Lionel and Aldous got off the chariot quietly so as to not disturb the silence of the town, gathering all their luggages with the equipment they needed to pull this thing off.

“Remember, the guards in the prison are gullible enough to be convinced by a pricey bribe,” the chariot driver reminds them in a rugged voice. “They’re not the nicest people in town, so try not to get aggressive.”

“We can’t thank you enough, kind fellow,” Lionel says as he tips the driver extra– also giving enough to afford food for the poor horse– for driving them and their heavy equipment all the way here despite the time.

The chariot driver tips his hat to the two adventurers, before taking off. The clanking sounds of the horse’s hooves echoed loudly through the empty town, until they could no longer hear them.

“The lights inside the prison are still on,” Aldous mentions, looking upon the prison gates. “Do you think we should stay in and rest for a while or do we do this now?”

“Perhaps we could visit Armonn first, to make sure he’s not a hoax,” Lionel whispers.

“Alright, I like how this sounds,” Aldous hums in agreement. “How do we do that?”

“We could bribe the guards to borrow him for a while,” Lionel says, rubbing his chin with his gloved hand. “Then, after we do our business, we can bring him back all in one piece,” he adds with a snap of his fingers.

“Hopefully,” Aldous says with a nod of his head, before they walk towards the gates.

The guard leaning against the gates looks lean but strict. His hands are crossed against his chest, glancing over the two adventurers as they make their way towards him, stopping just in front of him.

“Put those down,” he says in a gruff voice, nodding his head to the luggages. Lionel and Aldous remained silent as they carefully placed their luggages down on the ground.

“Why are you being gentle with these things?” The guard asks as he gives the side of one of the luggages a rough kick. “These have grenades inside or somethin’?”

“Not exactly,” Aldous snaps. The guard’s eye twitched at his tone, making Aldous gulp nervously. “B-but they are very fragile,” he says, trying to maintain a calm voice.

The guard raises an eyebrow at them. “Oh really? Open it,” he commands.

Lionel and Aldous kneeled to the luggages and started opening them one by one. The guard leans forward and squints his eyes once he catches a glimpse of something shiny reflecting from inside the luggages.

“These are called ‘cameras’,” Lionel says, dusting off the imaginary dirt on it. “They’re used for taking pictures.”

“You must be very rich to afford those.” The guard kneels with them and examines the content of each luggage, only to see a whole bunch of pre-set cameras neatly packed together.

“Are you from the government?” The guard asks them with wide eyes.

“Something like that,” Aldous says as he looks at Lionel. The other adventurer nods his head.

“We are here to see Armonn Prenderghast,” Lionel tells the guard in a stern voice.

The guard scoffs. “Are you serious?” He asks with a laugh.

“We’ll pay you a huge amount of money,” Lionel pauses with a smirk, “if you let us borrow him,” he offers as he raises a conniving brow.

The guard gives them a foreboding look. “Alright,” he says before standing up on his feet once again. “You two are cleared.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Aldous breathes out in relief, before scrambling to the ground to close the luggages with the cameras on them.

Lionel walks up to the guard and hands him the payload.

“Bless my soul,” the guard says as his eyes pop out of their socket.

“We have ourselves a deal, yes?” Lionel asks.

“Deal,” The guard says as he quickly snatches the money with a nod.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Aldous grunts as he grabs the luggages from the ground.

“Indeed,” Lionel adds as he helps his fellow adventurer with the remaining luggages.

The guard tucks the money safely into his pocket and opens the gates for them. He gestures his head to the side, inviting the two men to follow him.

Aldous and Lionel throw a glance at each other, before walking towards the gates.

The silence inside the prison is unnervingly silent, with only the echoes of their walking feet filling the dreadful silence of the hall. Most of the prisoners are asleep at this early time of the morning.

“Do we still need to wake up Armonn?” Aldous whispers to Lionel.

“That lunatic doesn’t sleep,” the guard answers as his footsteps stop once they reach a huge metal door.

The guard takes out a key from his pocket. “He always talks to himself, day or night,” he continues as he slides the key inside the lock. “That’s why he’s far away from the others.”

The two adventurers remain silent as the guard unlocks the metal door. There was a light clanging sound coming from inside the room.

“Hey freak!” The guard sneers as he knocks on the metal door. A loud shriek echoed from the other side, making the guard wheeze silently.

“Some of your friends came to visit,” he says as he slowly pulls the metal door open.

There was a young man standing in the dimness of the early morning darkness filling the prison cell, with shackles on his wrists that kept him from moving around freely.

His ruffy hair is stroked upwards in an unusual way. His eyes are twitching from the weight of the huge black bags underneath them, his body visibly shaking from the coldness caused by the torn up clothes he’s wearing.

The guard yanks the chains of his shackles forward, making the young man pivot forward against his will. The two adventurers flinch, leaving them speechless at the scene before them.

“Here’s your freak, gentlemen,” the guard says as he unlocks Armonn’s shackles. “Make sure you return him,” he adds as he gives the young man a small push.

Armonn stumbles towards the two adventurers, looking at them with an unreadable expression spreading over his face.

“Thank you,” Aldous says, before looking at Lionel and Armonn. “Let’s go,” he says in a hushed tone, prompting the three of them to start walking.

“You…” Armonn starts, his voice shaky and soft. “You actually read my letter?” He asks.

“Of course we did,” Lionel says as he moves forward to catch him, as if he’s pulling the young man into an embrace.

“I couldn’t believe it,” the young man breathes out. “You two really came for me!”

“We traveled for miles to visit you,” Aldous says as he looks over them. “Make it worth it, otherwise the money we spent goes for nothing.”

“Of course!” Armonn cheers with a weak smile, despite his shaking figure. “We just have to go to the spot where the witch was buried, and I’ll show you what I’m talking about.”

“I hope your end of the deal is warranted, boy,” Lionel says as they push through the metal gates of the entrance.

“You can do your thing once we get proper sleep, kid,” Aldous tells them with a yawn as the three step outside the prison.

“I agree,” Lionel nods tiredly.

“Not to worry!” Armonn exclaims. “I have a place not far from here that's near the spot of the Witch.”

“Excellent,” Aldous cheers with a groan.

“Lead the way, young man.”

~

The looming afternoon sun peered through the window, momentarily blinding the two men who slept on the wooden floor. They were in some sort of an old house that looked like nothing was washed for a long time.

“Everything drifted too fast,” Aldous groans as he brings his palm on his forehead.

Lionel stretches his limbs to wake himself up. “Aldous, where are we-”

“Time is running out!” Armonn shouts.

The two adventurers groggily turned their heads to look at each other, only to get a glimpse of the young man running towards them. He hasn't changed his clothes, but he did carry some sort of red book with him.

“Slow down, bud,” Aldous raises his hand with a yawn. “We just woke up.”

“Just…” Lionel rubs his eyes with his gloved hands. “Give us a few minutes…”

“If you want to capture it without putting others in danger, then we must do this now!” Armonn pleads to them.

“Hang on, kid,” Aldous yawns for the last time. ”How much time do we have left?”

“We only have an hour left to stop the Witch’s Curse from happening!” Armonn tells them in a panicked voice. The two adventurers were up on their feet within milliseconds.

“Her curse is getting stronger. I checked the spot, and there's green energy circling around it,” Armonn tells them before raising the red book in his hands. “I need to read this to her to put her curse to rest.”

“What happens if you don't?” Aldous asks worriedly. “Then her curse would wake the dead,” Armonn answers in a low voice.

Aldous looks to the other adventurer for a moment, before nodding his head with a determined look on their faces.

“Then we must hurry,” Lionel concludes as he and Aldous rush to the luggages near where they slept.

Armonn helps them carry some of the luggages and opens the door for them. They remained silent as they walked out of Armonn's old wooden house, not even caring if the door was left open.

The young man leads the two men to the trail leading towards the spot just behind his house. The three of them focused solely on brisk walking to get there as fast as they can.

Armonn's footsteps suddenly came to a halt, making the two adventurers stop walking as well. A light green mist surrounded a shrill old tree in the middle of the forest.

“I don't like how I feel in here,” Aldous whispers to himself as the young man walks to the tree.

“We should start placing cameras around the tree and set timers,” Lionel says. “I'm starting to hate it here too.”

Aldous nods his head in reply as the two adventurers immediately set up their cameras in stable locations that can give them good pictures.

Armonn sits beside the old tree and gives its wood a small pat. “We're ready,” the young man shouts as he looks over the two adventurers.

The sun is near its setting point, where Lionel and Aldous set up their last camera.

“I'll guard the cameras on the left, while I take the right ones,” Aldous says. Lionel nods his head quickly in reply, not saying another word. When they got into position, both of them gave the young man a thumbs up.

Armonn gives them a light smile, before opening the red book in his hands. “Once upon a time, in a far off land, there lived a king and a queen in a magnificent castle.”

The light green mist surrounding the old tree is becoming thicker as the sun goes lower, with flashes of electricity flickering around it.

Aldous' eyes grew wide in shock, as Lionel covered his agaped mouth with a gloved hand.

"Did you see that!?" Aldous whispers to the fellow adventurer. "Can any of our cameras make any stable image out of this?" he asks him!

Lionel says nothing, his eyes focusing on the dozens of cameras that are shaking on their spots due to the increasing wind speeds of this supposed storm circling around the old tree. 

The adventurer looks at his fellow friend, a solemn look dawning upon his face. "I think none of them can handle this, Aldous," he says, as some of the cameras on sight are already knocked to the ground by the growing intensity of the winds.

Aldous and Lionel were both anxious to move from where they were, for they might spoil the story Armonn was reading. The curse and their chance to catch historic pieces of evidence are low, but the two adventurers silently watched and  prayed that amongst the army of cameras surrounding the scene, some of them could capture pictures of this rare event that has yet to be explained. 

As the afternoon sun continued to go down, the more hectic Armonn's story became, the more sporadic the flickers of electricity jolted around the ever growing thickness of the darkening green clouds around the old tree. 

All they did was to hope for the best, and expect the worst that has yet to come. 

The winds twisted around in an odd rapid motion, almost like an uncontrollable child throwing a huge tantrum. Armonn held onto the red book as he was practically shouting the story to the air, in hopes that he's telling it in a loud and clear voice.

Moments before the sunset, Armonn had reached the final page of the red book. “The next day the prince took his bride to his father’s palace.” As the story reaches towards its end, the thick dark green clouds slowly dissipate into the light green mist it once was.

“And there, they lived happily ever afterward.”

Chapter Text

“Shockingly enough, luck was on our side that day. A few of our cameras handled the unknown green energy, and thus we caught some interesting photographs,” Lionel says as Susan and the Trubshaw family listen silently to the adventurer’s story.

“The photographs are well preserved now, and boy, did that cost a lot of fortune,” he adds with a coy smile. “We got the evidence we sought for.” Lionel closes the red book in his gloved hands.

“That’s how I got this particular Sleeping Beauty book,” he says. “Armonn gave it to me for keepsakes,” he continues.

“Why was there a need to read a children’s tale to an accused ‘witch’?” Winnie asks from behind her children.

“Armonn didn’t tell us why. We never got to ask him, since we had to take him back,” Lionel sighs heavily with a shake of his head.

“Maybe they were just really into fairy tales,” Eggs replies with a frown. “I agree, such poor people,” Susan says with a sad nod.

“At least we get to remember them, whether they were truly guilty of performing witchcraft or not,” Lionel tells them as he rises up from his seat. “And on that note, we should go to our next location, Susan.”

“Sir Lionel’s right, children,” Winnie says as the sasquatch and the auburn haired triplets whine sadly.

Susan looks to the triplets. “I’ll miss you guys,” she says as she ruffles the hair of each child. The triplets squealed and giggled at the feel of the softness on Susan’s paw.

The sasquatch stands up from the floor while grabbing their belongings. The adventurer tilts his head to the wooden doors, before gripping his cane and lifting it from the ground.

“Fish!” Eggs calls out inside the factory. A boxtroll with a fish symbol on his box comes hollering towards the tall man, holding some sort of round bug in his hands.

“Watch the triplets for us while we guide the visitors outside, okay?” He tells the boxtroll.

Fish nods to him, and begins to call out for the three children in a garbled boxtroll voice. The triplets willingly followed the boxtroll into the factory, leaving the four adults by the doors.

Eggs and Winnie walked towards the doors and pulled them open for Lionel and Susan..

“Thank you for having us,” Lionel tells the couple as he and Susan walk out of the factory. “You two were wonderful hosts.”

“True,” Susan nods her head in agreement. “I’ll miss this place. And the triplets, they’re so adorable,” she says with a smile.

“It’s surely a delight to have you as our guests,” Winnie says with a smile, hooking her arm around her husband’s hips. “Come visit us again if you like!” Eggs adds with a grin.

“Oh, you know we will!” Susan replies, waving her hand to them from outside.

“You better!” Winnie shouts back teasingly.

“Until we meet again!” Lionel says. Eggs and Winnie waves their hands to them, before closing the factory’s doors.

Susan sighs. “Such wonderful folks,” she says.

Lionel pushes the boat back on the river, giving out a helping hand to the sasquatch. Susan grabs onto his hand as the adventurer pulls her inside the small boat.

“So where are we headed to next?” Susan asks as she reaches for the paddles on the sides.

“Next stop? Asia.”

“Where in Asia? It’s not exactly a small continent, you know.”

“In Japan, Susan. For crying out loud.”

Chapter Text

Lionel stops his rushing footsteps just in front of his study. He takes a deep breath in to stop his heart from pounding rapidly. As he holds onto the door knob, he catches up with his breath, taking his time to clear his thoughts. Lionel clenches his staff in his gloved hand before pushing the door open.

“You’re late,” Aldous says as he casually leans on Lionel’s study sofa with a coy smile on his face. 

Lionel rolls his eyes and closes the door behind him. “I’d be early if you didn’t give that telegram in the middle of an expedition proposal to the club, Aldous.”

“The Nessie?” Aldous scoffs. “That won’t stand a chance at what I’m about to tell you, Sir.”

“Really?” Lionel raises a brow. “What can possibly be better than finding a long lost beast as extraordinary as the Loch Ness Monster?”

The other adventurer looks at the bag set beside him and gives a smirk. He reaches for the bag, groping through his things. 

Lionel finds himself leaning against his study table and waits patiently. Aldous briefly meets his friend’s gaze, before pulling out a browned out roll of parchment. 

“What do we have here?” Lionel huffs as he crosses his arms unremarkably. “Some old transcribed text that is unreadable?”

“You’re wrong, sir,” Aldous says with the sly shake of his head, prompting Lionel to leap off the study table he’s been leaning on.

Aldous carefully unrolls the old piece of parchment, fearing that the paper’s gritty brittle texture might break. He flattens the paper with his palm, places it on top of his two legs and gives Lionel a serious look.

Lionel walks towards him as his eyes fixate on the old parchment. It looks like a map of a place somewhere. The squiggly lines seem to form an unusual shape, with different colors indicating similar paths that circles around the paper. 

“It’s an old map I’ve recovered from a library archive that’s closing down,” he says as his eyes linger on the parchment, “I wouldn’t miss an opportunity like this one, Sir.”

“Where does this lead to?” Lionel asks, his eyes growing wide in astonishment.

“Someplace in Eastern Asia,” Aldous tells him as he hands over the map. “I’ve crossed referenced the geographical layout of the map, and I’ve found a match that leads to an abandoned fortress in Japan.” Lionel looks at Aldous in consideration, before taking the parchment in his gloved hands. 

“According to the most respected historians to date, they say the fortress withholds information still inaccessible and unknown to Japan’s history to this day.”

Lionel covers his mouth in pure shock as he holds the map with one hand. His eyes travel down to the language written on the side of the paper. The writing is unfamiliar, but some patterns repeat themselves within the text. 

“It’s written in old language, I presume,” Lionel says as his fingers go down to his chin.

“Ancient Japanese,” Aldous says with the nod of his head. He stands up from the sofa and points his finger to the scribbled Japanese text. “Our best bet in understanding what it means is to compare local writings around the Edo Period, since they look the most similar.”

“We could make a fortune from this discovery,” Lionel states with a breathless voice, amazement and thrill running through his veins. “Imagine the acclaim and wealth we’ll get for finding a culture’s missing link in their history.”

‘Certainly better than finding a Nessie,” Aldous teases with a smirk. “Definitely,” Lionel answers.

Lionel carefully rolls back the old parchment, and hands it back to Aldous. His friend looks at him, waiting for his response. 

“Fine,” Lionel sighs, “I’m putting my Nessie project on hold.” 

“Yes!” Aldous cheers as he punches the air with a grin. “You’re not gonna regret this one, Sir.”

Lionel swings his cane off the floor, turns his body away from Aldous, before walking towards the door without another word. Lionel holds onto the knob, looks over Aldous with a nod, before exiting his study room.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in Japan lies an ancient fortress, only ever described ambiguously in Japanese mythology as "Hanzo's Fortress." It is said to withhold missing information alienated from the country's rich history. Some say this fortress is nothing more than just Japanese folklore, while some claim its very real existence. 

Aldous and Lionel might just have the answer to all those assumptions, having just acquired an ancient map to allegedly guide them towards the ancient fortress.

Along their three-day ride using an old carriage they rented from the locals, the adventurers were met by nothing but an endless plane of mulberry fields kissed by the golden light of the sun. They ended their trip by early afternoon on a mountain situated near a halcyon town just next to the vast openness of the sea.

“Steady, girl,” Lionel grunts as he pulls the reins of the horses to a stop in front of an opening of a mysterious cave on top of the mountain.

Lionel only takes a quick moment to observe the place, before raising a suspicious brow.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" He asks out loud as he promptly hops off the chariot, his boots landing on the ground with a loud thud.

"The map’s trail ends here, so this must be it," Aldous says with his nose stuck on the map, before he stops his steps just behind Lionel.

"Give me a minute," he quips, squinting his eyes as he brings the map closer to his face. 

As Lionel waits for his fellow adventurer with crossed arms, he notices something echoing from the darkness of the cave's mouth. Lionel brings his cane with him as he inches closer to the cave, curiously tilting his head. 

Lionel steps back once he hears a mysterious rustling sound coming from inside. He swore he saw something move in the dark.

“It seems like the map’s trail ends here,” Aldous mentions with a grunt, but Lionel’s gaze is fixated hard on the cave to hear his friend’s words.

“Dare ga iru ka? ” The cave grumbled in a low voice.

The two men shriek out and simultaneously step back in surprise at the sudden noise coming from the cave. 

“Did you hear that?” Lionel whispers as he and Aldous shared a worried look, before turning their attention back to the blackness of the cave.

“Hello?” Aldous asks, his voice loud enough to echo within the cave. 

As the echoes of his question died down, the whistling breeze in the air passed through them, followed by nature's silence. They stood frozen in their place, quietly waiting for anything to happen. 

Suddenly, small footsteps echoed back to them, making the two men gasp. As the rushing footsteps become undeniable, Lionel grips harder onto his cane and prepares himself to attack with it, while Aldous quickly but carefully rolls the map and tucks it under his coat with a step backwards.

“Who is there?” A light voice whispers from inside the cave.

Aldous breathes and gently steps forward. “W-we’re professional adventurers!” He promptly says with a quiet gulp. 

“Whoever you may be,” Lionel pauses as he loosens his grip on his cane before speaking once again. “We mean no harm to you.”

“How can we trust you?” The low voice questions, the snarkiness evident in their tone.

“We’ve received an old map that is said to guide us to Hanzo’s Fortress,” Aldous answers sternly, making the voices within the cave gasp in unison. 

“We intended to go there and collect historical information about the place, but the map has guided us here,” Lionel adds, gesturing to the cave with his gloved hand.

The voices started to murmur against each other in another language. It’s almost as if they’re arguing about something, but Lionel and Aldous can’t really do anything about it but await their response.

Suddenly, two figures emerged from the darkness, walking towards them with stern looks on their faces. As they step out of the cave, it is clear to Lionel and Aldous that these two are twins; a young man and a young woman. 

The young man eyes the two men carefully. “Can we look at your map?” He asks, holding out his hand to the two adventurers.

Lionel glances at Aldous, tilting his head to the native as a gesture to follow. Aldous nods briefly and grabs the old map from his coat.

The young man swipes the parchment from Aldous’ hands, making the adventurer flinch. “Be careful now, that’s old paper,” he cautions nervously.

The twins did not pay attention to him as the young man quickly unrolls the paper. Their eyes frantically ran through the map in a matter of seconds.

They let out a gasp. “It’s our grandfather's old map!” 

The young woman whips their head to face the two men. “Where did you get this?” She asks them, her thick eyebrows snapping together in confusion.

“A library that was shutting down gave it to me,” Aldous raises his hand, catching the twins’ attention. “They kept it in storage for a long time and never displayed it, not really knowing what it was for.”

The twins look at each other with befuddled looks on their faces. The young woman lends out her hand to Aldous. 

“I’m Mizuki Mizumi,” she says as Aldous shakes her hand. “This is my twin brother, Kosuke Mizumi,” she tilts her head to the young man beside her.

“I’m Aldous Fortnight, it’s my pleasure,” the adventurer greets back.

Lionel steps forward. “My name is Sir Lionel Frost,” he greets as he shakes his hands to the twins. “We’re professional adventurers that came all the way from English society. It’s truly an honor.”

“The honor is all ours Sirs,” Kosuke nods. 

“Why don’t we come inside the cave?” Mizuki offers with a small smile. “We’ll get you settled in.”

~

The cave doesn’t look as welcoming as it is from outside compared to within. As soon as the fireplace started crackling, the darkness soon revealed a warm and cozy makeshift home, almost as if the whole place was something out of a camping trip.

Mizuki rushes to a corner and prepares the guests with a small snack, while Kosuke guides the two adventurers near the fireplace.

“Do you two live here?” Aldous asks without thinking.

“We do! Our parents raised us inside this cave,” Kosuke answers with a small smile. “Sit with us,” he says as he pats on the floor.

“Come!” Mizuki pipes in. She hangs a pot of chopped down raw fish on top of the crackling fire and sits down on the floor, holding some sticks in her hands.

Aldous promptly sits down with a thump, while Lionel dusts his spot with his gloved hand before sitting down.

“For how long have you been living up here?” Lionel asks as he leans closer towards them.

Kosuke and Mizuki looked at each other, as if they were not exactly sure how to answer the question. Mizuki shoots a quick glance to the two adventurers, as Kosuke replies with a shake of his head. 

“We are here for quite a long time now,” Kosuke answers as Mizuki bumps his shoulder before facing the adventurers with a nod.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell us if you’re not comfortable,” Aldous waves his hand with a chuckle. 

“You are the first outsiders to visit the mountain,” Mizuki says as she sets the pot on the stone floor, now full of cooked fish. “We rarely have visitors.”

“Also, people rarely want to search for Hanzo’s Fortress,” Kosuke mentions, giving the two adventurers a foreboding look.

Mizuki notices her twin’s face and rolls her eyes. She hands over the sticks on her hands to the adventurers with a calm smile.

“Take it, we’re going to eat dinner.”

Aldous and Lionel quietly grab a pair for each of them. “Thank you,” they say almost simultaneously. 

Mizuki returns the greeting with a nod. The young woman turns to her twin brother, her expression changing from a welcoming persona to a threatening face.

“Suke, remember what Father used to tell us,” Mizuki told him as she held out the sticks to him.

Kosuke’s glare melted away as he faced his twin. “Never talk on an empty stomach,” he says.

“Good,” Mizuki’s smile returned almost instantly as her brother took a pair of sticks.

The young woman holds the pair of sticks with one hand like a pair of tweezers, her twin brother doing the same.

Mizuki faces the two adventurers and moves the pot of cooked fish to them with a teasing smile. “I presume you know how to use chopsticks,” she says as she taps her sticks together.

“‘Chop sticks’?” Aldous asks obliviously. 

Lionel turns to his friend with a poker face. “You don’t know how to use chopsticks?” He asks, dumbfounded.

“I didn’t even know these things existed,” Aldous replies, making Kosuke and Mizuki laugh.

“You can stab the fish with the stick,” Kosuke suggests as he moves his chop sticks in a stabbing motion. “Makes it easy to eat the meat.”

Lionel nods respectfully as he picks up a piece of cooked fish with his chopsticks. He brings the piece of meat to his nose and sniffs it a little, before bringing it to his mouth with a bite. The exotic flavor almost made his eyes pop out of his sockets, genuinely surprised by the pleasant taste.

“Mmm! It’s delicious!” Lionel exclaims with a delightful smile. 

Aldous follows suit with Kosuke’s suggestion of stabbing the fish and immediately plops the piece of meat inside his mouth upon seeing Lionel’s reaction. 

“Lionel’s right,” Aldous praises with the shake of his head, taking another bite to get more of the exotic taste. “It’s too good!”

“Thank you!” Kosuke smiles as he pulls the pot towards them, taking out a piece for himself. 

“Kosuke catched all our fish from the sea,” Mizuki mentions, pointing her chopsticks to the cave’s opening where the body of water is seen down below. “We eat fish every day. I’m glad to know someone else likes it,” she adds as she grabs a piece and eats it.

After they finish eating their meal, the twins tidy up the place and sit back to their spots. 

“If I may,” Lionel burps before clears his throat, catching the twins’ attention. “Kosuke, Mizuki, apologies if I have said your names wrongfully, but my fellow adventurer and I have traveled many miles to explore a place still lost in the history of this country.”

Aldous nods to his friend before continuing. “Hanzo’s Fortress would bring a lot to the discovery of your culture's history and the state of this country at the time period when it still stood active.”

Kosuke’s once welcoming face swiftly morphed into a serious one. “Hanzo’s Fortress means a lot to our Father,” he huffs as he grits his teeth, a burning fire brewing within his eyes. “And he wants us to protect it.”

“So you know of it,” Lionel responds, his gaze hopeful but careful as he looks upon the young man.

Kosuke allows his glare to sink deep into the adventurer, giving him a silent warning. The young man huffs while nodding his head. 

“We both do,” Mizuki adds as she turns her head to her twin brother, a worried look plastered on her face.

“Watashitachi wa sorera o shinrai dekimasu ka?” She speaks to her twin, making the two adventurers share a look. Kosuke’s gaze breaks away from the two men. 

“Watashitachi dekinai," he responds in a deep voice. “Shikashi, watashitachi wa sorera o motte kite miru koto ga dekimasu," he adds, facing the two adventurers with a stoic face as he crosses his arms. 

“Karera ga watashitachi o uragirunara, watashitachi wa karera o korosu koto ga dekimasu.” Kosuke shrugs nonchalantly.

“Yoi." Mizuki smiles as she faces the two adventurers. 

“My brother and I have decided. We shall take you to Hanzo’s Fortress. Our trip shall start by the next sunrise.” 

~

The sea beneath the mountain where the twins reside can lead their group directly to where Hanzo's Fortress is located. The massive body of water is left by local sailors because of a story that Kosuke and Mizuki's father once told to the town that spread throughout the entire country and became cemented as local folklore. The twins knew the story was their father's effort to keep people away from voyaging through that sea, and possibly fortify the sacred location of Hanzo's Fortress.

“With all that said,” Kosuke pauses in his words with a grunt as he packs the last of their things onto the new carriage. He huffs while bringing his attention back to the adventurers.

“We go to Hanzo's Fortress by foot.”

It took them almost a week to get to the fortress. They had to go to a desert of snow, a cave inside a skull shaped like a rock, create a makeshift raft strong enough to carry all four of them and get to the other side without getting destroyed by any thunderstorms, reach the other side and travel through a number of terrains such as a bamboo forest and a forest with unusual snow as a normal weather in that specific area.

As the dawn starts to break, Lionel starts to wonder where they are headed, since it's too dark to see anything. The only thing he sees is the two bodily figures of the twins in front, guiding them all to the fortress.

Suddenly, the adventurer's heels clank above a wooden surface, its sound echoing to the vast void of the darkness surrounding them.

As soon as Lionel sees the twins raise a hand, he pulls the horses into a stop, and their footsteps follow into a halt. Aldous looks around, as if he's having a hard time locating the fortress amidst the darkness.

Kosuke takes a deep breath in before crouching down to the ground. He grabs an old bark of wood and stands back up. He takes out a matchstick from his pocket and flicks it against the wood, creating a sudden blaze.

He tips the flame on top of the old wood, giving his twin sister a glance. Mizuki places a hand on his shoulder, moving her head to a nod. As soon as he lifts up the torch, the adventurers both gasp in amazement.

~

“Hanzo's Fortress,” Susan mutters with a quick breath as she basks himself onto the beauty of the ancient palace that has aged poorly from time.

“It looks so majestic.” Susan breathes out and lets her eyes absorb every single detail she could remember, from the wrinkly old red banner on the ground with the sign of a beetle on it– scathed and brittled as time went on, to the trees that have grown through the old wood that once stood as the structure of the very fortress.

“It is as beautiful as the day we last went here,” Lionel comments as he sits on the ground, stabbing the end of the blazing torch against the ground.

Susan sits beside Lionel without uttering another word. “Did something happen?” She asks. “When you and Aldous got here, I mean,” she explains with a brief laugh.

Lionel kept his mouth shut for a moment, letting the fire crackle from the wood. He sighs and closes his eyes. 

“Yes,” he said simply. “And it wasn't a very pleasant memory.”

A worried expression dawned upon Susan's face. “What happened?” She asks carefully as she leans closer to the adventurer.

Lionel looks up to the abandoned fortress. “Remember that wooden monkey carving you found?”

“Oh!” Susan turns around and reaches for their baggage, rummaging around their stuff until she finds what Lionel asked for. She closes the baggage and carefully brings out the small figure of the wooden monkey. 

“You mean this?” She lends the wooden monkey out to him.

Lionel looks to his sasquatch friend, his gaze landing on the small wooden monkey on her enormous paw. 

“Yes,” he nods. “That was given to me after saving Mizuki's life,” he bites his inner cheek and hesitates, before taking a deep breath. 

“When we went inside the fortress, Aldous prematurely celebrated. Mizuki, our guide, got angry at Aldous and I, claiming that we only took advantage of Hanzo's Fortress for our profitable gain,” he pauses with a flinch. It was clear to Susan that he still remembers that day as if it was yesterday.

“The fortress shook with her anger, that a loose slab of a big wooden shaft was starting to inch closer from squishing her, so I had to pull her away even if she was enraged.” Lionel breathes. “After that fall, the whole fortress followed.”

Susan's face fell as she listened to his words. She can't impossibly imagine how Lionel felt during the time it happened, but she can hear it in his voice that it was still heavy to him. 

“We got out of there just in time, I didn't even think about losing my biggest discovery to ruins,” Lionel continued. “Mizuko apologized. Kosuke thanked me for saving his sister's life, so he gave me that monkey charm.”

“This a charm?” Susan asks as she holds up the wooden monkey.

The adventurer took the monkey charm from her and nodded. 

“He told me that it will ‘gift me a friend’ when I reach my lowest,” Lionel smiles as he looks at his sasquatch friend. 

“I think he was quite right,” he tells Susan as he pats her hairy shoulder with a firm nod, making the sasquatch smile brightly at him.

“Pfft, you don't have to thank me,” Susan teases as she waves her big hand.

Lionel's once emphatic face turns into a tired one at her response, making her have a fit of giggles and laughter. 

~ END ~