Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Perry Angeles, 23, a young man from a village somewhere in northern England, who took over the recently deceased pastor and helped out Jin and Irene at the clinic every now and then. The kind boy that wouldn't hurt a fly. That's how most people in Castanet would describe him.

But they didn't know the truth.

His real name never mattered. A young man from London, who was a spy on his first real mission. The kind of person that wouldn’t necessarily hurt a fly, only if he needed to. He'd kill anyone if his boss asked him to. That's how he'd describe himself.

Most children would want to be something unusual once they grow up. But most of these children never got to it once they did. That could have several reasons. They forgot about it, changed their mind, received disapproval or didn't work hard enough.

But he never forgot about it, he never changed his mind and he did work hard enough despite receiving so much disapproval.

When he was a child, he watched a lot of movies about spies. He was also pretty overlooked by everyone. Just a short British orphan with this silly bowl cut. People never really seemed to acknowledge his presence much, which resulted in them talking about really controversial stuff when he was around. What was he going to do? Tell his friends? He didn't really have that much as a kid. Still, he knew about everything and everyone in school.

It's been a while since that, and the spy was staring at the computer screen. He wasn't doing anything in particular, just doodling something on paint. He was waiting for his boss, Bigbee, to come in, because he said they needed to talk. Bigbee didn't sound mad or anything, he was hopefully going to give him a mission. Because the spy has been only doing office work ever since he started working in this agency.

"Hey, are you-"

When the spy heard Bigbee's voice, he immediately switched tabs to one of the documents he had saved on the computer. He could practically recite it by heart by now because that document (It was a file about two tourists playing tag in the city and people thinking they stole something) saved him sometimes.

"I'm here!"

Bigbee stared at a moment before clearing his throat. "Of course you are. You're a very good employee."

"Thank you, sir." he immediately replied, getting up from his chair. "I apologize for the mess." The spy then mumbled, shaking his boss’s hand.

"Don't be like that! Your table is completely clean, you big doofus." Bigbee pat him on the shoulder. "I can count on you, right?"

"Of course, sir." The spy said, nodding frantically. He was always really tense when Big Boss Bigbee was around. Not to maintain a good reputation, but because he was scared he'd do something wrong. He actually didn't even know why he was like that himself.

"Very good." His boss smiled at him. Bigbee was one of the few people here who had a real smile. "Then take a look at this." He handed him over a few papers.

The spy took the papers from him and scanned them with his hazel eyes. It was a murder case from around a year ago. The victim was Meilin Won. She was found dead on the beach, someone shot her. She was from London's Chinatown.

"We're suspecting her husband, Jin, to be the murderer." Bigbee announced. "It's not the only thing, though. Jin Won is suspected to be involved in a group that does organized crimes, and we think that the clinic he's running with his grandmother is only for the purpose of money laundering. He's not in London, though. He moved to an island called Castanet shortly after his wife passed, he actually used to live there for a while but moved back to London shortly before that incident."

The young spy nodded while still being focused on the papers. Jin Won. 34. Born in China but raised in London's Chinatown. Lived on some island in Goddess knows where called Castanet during his 20s and moved back to London last year, where he lived until his wife's death, then returned to Castanet.

Bigbee patiently waited for his subordinate to look at the file of Harmonica Town, a town where Jin's clinic was located. "That's not all." he then said, "Ever since they've opened their clinic, life quality has dropped, too."

"I see...So, uh-"

"That's where we need you, my dear!"

He smiled nervously. Maybe this was going to be his first real mission.

"They've been looking for someone to help them out in the clinic since Irene should've retired ages ago already. And their last pastor passed away recently, so the church is just completely abandoned. That's a problem, since apparently a person that was responsible for the living situation used to live there and maybe left something there." Bigbee's genuine smile turned into a shady smirk. "Would you be so kind and go undercover? You help out at the clinic and also pretend to be a pastor so we can finally solve the case."

Yes, finally. A real mission. He was so happy, he could...cheer and jump. Obviously he wasn't going to do that. "It would be an honor, sir." he replied, sounding as polite as always. "But how am I going to-"

"The people who are responsible for the church stuff here are informed, they said it's not a problem."

While the spy was happy, he started worrying about how he could qualify as one. But now that was another thing to consider. Wasn't it immoral to pretend to be a pastor, even if he was doing that "for good"? It was his first mission, he was not going to turn it down, so it didn't matter. At least not now.

"We already got a whole profile made for you. You can decide your name, though!" His boss gave him another paper and tapped on the empty slot right on top of the paper and then also handed him a pen.

He thought about it. He thought about Perregrino Di Angelo. He was a character from this one book series he used to read as a kid. It wasn't a popular one, so hopefully Bigbee wouldn't recognize where that idea came from. "I thought about Perregrino Di Angelo, if you don't mind, sir."

Bigbee frowned when he heard the name. "Isn't that Italian? You don't even look Italian!"

"Well, then a British variant." he thought for another moment. "Um..."

"Perry Angeles. How about it?" Bigbee suggested before he could.

That name was alright. Yeah, it was something he could live with from now on. "I think it's a good name, sir."

"It's settled, then!"

Bigbee's boisterous laugh echoed through the room as he slapped him on the back, almost knocking him off balance. "Welcome to your first real mission, Pastor Perry Angeles!"

"Thank you, sir." The spy...or Perry mumbled, not really knowing how to feel right now. Was this the right thing to do in the end?

Since he was an orphan and never had a real family, (the people in the orphanage came and went, and he became a spy as soon as he turned 18) he threw a goodbye-party with his friends, the other workers here in the agency. It was his very first mission, so he didn't dare to talk about his doubts with all of this, since every person at work who knew about it laughed his feelings off as no big deal. This whole discussion about whether it was going to be morally right or not bothered him. He already agreed to help, so there was no turning back anymore. He wasn't religious, so it normally shouldn't bother him, anyway.

"You're a quiet one, aren't you?" The captain of the small boat that brought the spy – er, Perry, to the island asked. They both sat in the Captain's quarters because Perry was the only passenger. The island was said to be really small, they had like 50 or even less people living there.

He didn't respond for a while because he was lost in his thoughts. The usual ones. To keep it short, if this was morally correct. "I guess so?" he replied, trying to not sound tired at all. He fidgeted with the rim of his backpack, the only thing he brought along.

The captain looked at him for a moment before speaking up again. "You know, I hope you can handle being lonely. Because no one ever visits the church!"

Actually, loneliness was the worst thing for Perry. He grew up with a big family and even if he didn't seem like it, he loved being around people. At least he was going to help out Jin and Irene. So he hopefully wouldn't get too lonely. "I think I can handle it."

"Oh, look, I haven't told you my name yet." The man said suddenly. "I'm Pascal Chastain. I already know your name, but you should still introduce yourself."

"I'm-" The 'pastor' stopped. He needed to be as careful as possible with his introduction. To not get busted or anything. "I'm Perry Angeles. I'm a pastor in training."

Pascal laughed. "That's it?"

"No, that's not it!" Perry fidgeted with his hands a little. "I'm from a village that's near Liverpool and I was sent here."

"Yeah, there isn't really a reason for anyone to come to this hole of an island."

Maybe that was why Jin moved here. Because this was just a place in the middle of nowhere.

The two men sat there in silence for a while. Perry wouldn't call it an awkward silence, though. Pascal was nice. Maybe they could become friends.

"And we're there!" Pascal announced as the ship arrived at the harbor. "By the way, someone's already waiting for you."

Perry tensed up immediately. It was probably Jin. He obviously accepted the application that Perry 'submitted', since he was probably the only one who sent one in the first place. He was supposed to spy on him, and right now, he wanted to rest. He's been travelling from London to LA by plane and then had to get to Castanet by boat, all in all he'd been travelling for 16 hours. He couldn't sleep at all.

"His name is Gill Hamilton. He's the mayor's son. He's of French and English descent, so you'll probably recognize him right away. Just kidding!"

He didn't even arrive yet and it was just a joke but Perry was already annoyed by an American.

“Thank you very much, sir.” Perry bowed and then left the ship. The only person standing at the pier was…a pale guy. Probably Gill.

He was a little nervous. It was foggy, so he couldn't see what it looked like here. “Hello there. A-Are you Gill?”

“Gilbert Hamilton is my name.” The man shook his hand. His grip was firm. “You can call me Gill.” He still shook his hand for a moment and then let it go. “You're the new pastor, right?”

“Well…It's an honor to meet you, Gill. I'm Perry Angeles. I'll also help out at the clinic.”

“I know.” Perry noticed how light Gill’s eyes were. Like ice. Kind of unsettling. “I'm going to show you around town, my father was supposed to do it, but he's not feeling well.” He gestured him to follow. It felt like Perry was on a tour guide, which he actually was. Just all alone. With this unsettling guy being the guide.

“Well, it's already kinda late, so it's only the town for now.” The two came across a small hut near the beach. “The fishery. Ozzie and his son, Paolo live here. And Toby, the nephew. He's around our age.” There was a small beach, too. It reminded Perry of the beaches he knew. It was completely empty. But the mayor's son already changed his direction, so he couldn't look at it much longer.

Gill stopped and pointed to the yellow building right in front of them. “This is the brass bar. I wouldn't go there if I were you. It's not important, anyway.” Perry wanted to ask him why, but he had the feeling Gill was going to give him a long explanation and he was too tired for that now.

They now arrived at the seemingly more central part of town. The town in general made Perry wonder what its flair was called. The houses had flat roofs and gave an unrenovated vibe. He guessed that these buildings were mainly constructed in the early to mid 1900’s. Gill waved an elderly woman who was about to enter a pink building. “This lady is Shelly from Sonata Tailoring. She lives there with her two granddaughters.”

“Oh, good evening, Gill!” Shelly greeted him, putting the basket she had with her down. “And who is this young gentleman?

“That's Perry, he's going to be the new pastor.” Gill replied for him. “Tell Candace she doesn't have to worry about the church being demolished anymore.”

“I am so glad!” The woman shook his hand with great enthusiasm, despite her old age. “My name is Shelly. You really can't imagine how happy I am right now. I'm sure Esther would be proud, too.”

“She means the old pastor.” Gill explained. “And yes, I'm sure of it. Well then, we'd love to talk to you a little more, but we don't have much time anymore. Good night!”

As Shelly went back inside, the mayor's son let out a relieved sigh. “Got away easily this time.”

“What? Why?” Perry raised an eyebrow.

“Don't worry, it's just that, well, she wants me to marry one of her granddaughters.” he seemed to be embarrassed about it, so he waved it off. “Whatever, we're not done yet. Come on.”

They came across a small tower and a house next to it. “This is the town hall! And it's also where I live. I'd love to show you how it looks inside, but like I told you, my father is sick. And we don't want you to get sick, too.” he was about to turn back to show him more but forgot something. “And over there is Simon’s photo booth or whatever.”

The two now walked upstairs. Because the buildings were stacked on top of each other. For some reason, Perry didn't notice that until now. That would explain the flat roofs…

“That's the clinic.” Gill pointed to a blue building in front of them. Perry felt a lump in his throat. Honestly, it looked more like a pirate lived there.

“Where is…” Perry hesitated. “Doctor Won?”

“Huh?” The blonde raised his eyebrows. “Ah, you mean Jin? Just call him Jin. We're all quite casual with each other here. I mean, this is America or something…” he looked in one of the windows and raised his brows again. “They're closed already, so I'm sure it's fine if you see them tomorrow.”

“Alright…And where is the church?”

“Up this hill, but it takes a while to get there, so let's take a look tomorrow.” Gill gestured him to follow and opened a door to a house next to the clinic. “After you.”

Perry stopped, smiling nervously. “You go first.”

The mayor's son sighed. “This isn't going anywhere.” he then went inside, Perry following. “This is our town’s inn. Ocarina inn, if you may. Colleen and Jake already know about you and you'll stay the night here, it's on the house. Let's wait for them.”

The blonde leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. He seemed like he had absolutely no motivation and just wanted to get rid of the newcomer…No, he didn't seem to mind Perry, it was more like he was in a hurry?

“Ah, hello, Gill!” A man called. “And this must be the new guy?”

“Good evening, Jake. Yes, this is Perry.”

“Pleased to meet you. My name is Jake. I'm the owner of this inn!” he shook Perry's hand. Honestly, the name Jake didn't really fit him, he seemed too formal and looked too old for the name, too. “My wife will bring you to your room, you can give me your luggage.”

“Thank you, sir! But I just have this backpack, so it's alright.”

A tall woman with short, orange hair arrived now. “You're Perry, aren't you? My name is Colleen! I'll bring you to your room.”

Jake wrapped an arm around Colleen’s shoulder, pulling her close. “I already told him, dear.”

Colleen got visibly flustered by her husband's affection. “Not in front of the customers, honey!” she joked. “Haha, excuse me. You seem tired, so let's not wait any longer!”

“Good, because I've got to go now.” Gill explained, looking at his watch. “It was a pleasure showing you around, Perry. I'll pick you up tomorrow at ten.”

“Okay, have a good night, sir– I mean Gill.” The pastor mumbled, waving at him and then following the couple to a hallway.

“If you want, you can join us for dinner in an hour.” Jake said as he held him the door open. “I'm sure my daughter and my mother would like to get to know you, too.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you.” Perry replied as he went inside.

The couple smiled at him. “Alright, we'll be at the lounge that's right at the entrance!”

When they left, the first thing Perry did was fall on the bed. He was so exhausted he could fall asleep. But he told them he'd join for dinner, so he couldn't. He opened his backpack to see if everything was still there, it was. Good, because some very important files were in there and if they ever came out he'd be dead.

What was he going to do in the next hour? Definitely not wait, he'd fall asleep. So he got up and decided to take a look around.

The inn didn't seem to have many rooms, since the house wasn't big. And it seemed empty as well. Were there any other guests in the other rooms?

Perry smelled something and heard a sizzling sound. Was someone cooking? He decided to take a look.

“Maya, I swear, if you keep messing this up, I'm gonna cook you instead!”

“Wah, Gran, stop being so rude!”

There were two women standing in the kitchen, an old one and a young one.

“Well, I wouldn't be so rude if you weren't – WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Perry flinched. “Excuse me, ladies! I was just looking around. I'm the new pastor.”

The younger girl hid behind the woman, who looked at him for a while and then started laughing. “Oh, I see! You're that Englishman, aren't you! Now, what's your name?”

“Perry Angeles, ma'am.” he held out his hand.

But the woman pat his back instead. And for being rather small, she was pretty strong. “Nice to meet you, Perry! I'm Yolanda and that's my granddaughter Maya. We were just preparing dinner!”

Maya seemed to recover from the shock now. “Umm, Mister Perry, can I ask you something?”

“You already did now.” he smiled.

“Ugh! No, I mean why is your surname Angeles? That sounds more like you're from LA than from England.”

“Maya, shut up! You can't ask these things!” Yolanda growled, turning back to Perry. “Please excuse her. She…uh, ate cement when she was six. And that caused her severe brain damage.”

“Lying is not a good idea.” Perry replied worriedly, crossing his arms. “I think the question was fine.”

“You sound like this substitute pastor we have right now.” Maya remarked before tensing up. “O-Oh, and thank you for defending me!”

“Anytime. And about your question…” Now he had to actually find something realistic. “I never asked anyone about it myself, surprisingly. So I guess I can't answer that, please excuse me. Oh, and…substitute pastor?”

Yolanda went to the stove to prevent the pasta water from leaking. “Yes, there's a boy that came from this one island nearby, since his father is one. Elliott was his name, I think?”

Perry nodded, secretly worrying slightly. He hasn't been informed about this. Probably because Bigbee and all the other people who provided the info documents didn't even know themselves. The substitute pastor was probably going to ask Perry something every pastor knew and he didn't. Maybe he should just look into the files he got again. When Perry went through them, he saw some basic stuff about being a pastor and a nurse. And maybe he could even learn something from Elliott.

“Look at that, the food is ready now! Maya, go get your parents.”

“No need to do that, we're already here.” Jake chimed in smugly. “And I see you're here too already, Perry! Well then, let's go eat.”

The family went to one of the tables and Perry decided to just take the empty seat next to Maya. They cooked fettuccine with a simple chicken herb sauce. It was simple but Perry didn't care. It did look delicious.

“How about the pastor here does a prayer for us now?” Yolanda suggested as she sat down.

Colleen intervened before anything could happen. “Yolanda, he just came here. Let him rest, he looks tired.”

Perry, the humble guy he was, wanted to say it's alright and he can do it, but he didn't have any prayer to think of right now.

“Yeah, and we're not even religious, anyway.” Maya added before covering her mouth in embarrassment.

“Maya! Such a rude thing to say when a pastor is present.” Jake hissed. “Please excuse our daughter.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Perry smiled. “Religious or not, it doesn't matter. We're all humans and can't pretend or force anything.”

The family all gave him a confused look. He got nervous. Did he say something wrong?

But then, they all smiled back. “I'm glad you think so!” Jake told him. “I haven't seen many understanding people like you yet.”

The boy laughed nervously and since the others were digging in now, he did the same. The dish tasted great, as expected.

“Why isn't Chase here?” Maya asked after a moment of silence.

Her entire family groaned at this. It seemed like Jake tried his best not to scream. “Maya, we don't need to let him eat here if he has two jobs.”

“What's so bad about him working at the bar?!”

“No, that's not it! I just don't like him!”

“You're the worst!” Maya slammed the table with her hands and got up, leaving.

“Come back here!”

But she already left.

“Honey, you were too harsh.” Colleen mumbled. But this hopeless tone said that this must've happened very often already. “It's gotten so bad you even argue about it when guests are present.”

Perry didn't know what was going on and felt sorry for Maya. Even if he found her a little annoying, too. This family was kinda nice, but a handful…

After they spent the rest of lunch in silence, Perry said goodnight and went back to his room.

“It's time I read myself into everything properly…” He thought. It was unprofessional of him not to do it earlier. Bigbee told him beforehand which ones he should definitely read under all costs and he did read those, at least.

He opened the envelope and pulled the first file out. Jin Won was the first one of course. He already read through his file often enough. Estranged parents, only child, very conservative, his source of his doctors degree was unknown. He was a weird guy. His grandmother Irene and his late wife also had a surprisingly big amount of information written in here.

But Perry did not get to read the other residents’ files properly yet. Most of them were only briefly documented, if even at all. He wasn't allowed to be seen with these files in public so he was told to only view them when alone.

He was still fully awake when reading about Mayor Hamilton, but his eyelids started getting heavy at Dale, he had to read every sentence multiple times for the family at the marimba farm and fell asleep before he could read about Barbara.

The poor guy didn't even get ready for bed yet, but he slept like a rock the entire night, he really needed that sleep…

Chapter Text

“Hey, get up! Are you alright?”

Someone banged on the door and Perry jolted awake, almost falling off the bed. He looked around in confusion but quickly realized he fell asleep with the files in his hand. No one was allowed to see them ever.

“Yes, I am! Give me a moment…” he yawned, grabbing his backpack and putting the files back inside and then getting up to open the door.

Colleen sighed in relief when he did. “Oh my goddess. You overslept, you know? Gill was worried about you!”

“Ah– I apologize. I must've overslept…”

“All that matters is that you're fine. You had a long way here, after all.” The woman told him with a gentle smile.

Perry reciprocated the smile and followed her to the entrance, where Gill was leaning against a wall again. Honestly, he expected him to say something, but the boy just eyed him with his ice-cold orbs. He probably waited for an apology.

“I overslept! I'm sorry!” Perry hushed, bowing.

Gill eyed him for another moment before nodding. “I've been waiting for an hour, at least you're here now.” Wow, what an arrogant dickhead. “Come on. I'll show you the church. Irene said we can take our time, you'll just go to the clinic as soon as we're done. Oh, and take your stuff with you. The church has a small flat you can live in.”

The bluenette nodded reluctantly and after he retrieved his backpack, he just followed him. They went up a hill.

“...So…” Gill started.

“Yes?”

“...I forgot what I was going to ask you.”

“Then it's not important!” Perry smiled, although that was a rather fake one.

At least the way was relatively short, the conversation was over before it could become more awkward.

The blonde made a vague gesture. “Church grounds.”

Honestly, this place looked nice. The church was small and simple but had its charm. The thing that made it stand out was this circular colored glass in the middle. For such a small church the plaza around it was pretty big. And cherry trees surrounding the area.

“Blimey…” This place made Perry almost forget about his actual reason why he was here.

“Hmm, you're easy to impress.” Gill smiled. “Come on, let's get inside. The substitute is waiting.”

But then, the mayor's son noticed someone standing at the railer. “Bloody hell.”

Perry was a little confused. “What? Why? Who is he?”

“Doesn't really matter. Let's just say a weirdo you should stay away from.” The blonde cleared his throat. “Hey, Chase! Go and work or whatever the hell you do all day!”

The guy turned around and glared. “Says the right one. Tch. And who's that now? New pastor, huh?” he stepped forward, grinning. “Just telling you, this place is the worst. I'd scram if I were you.”

Gill pulled Perry with him. “Don't listen to that guy. Let's leave.”

“Alright, but I'm still wondering why you reacted this way.”

“It's…” He sighed. “Complicated.”

“Well, whatever it is, I hope you and Chase make up.” This whole thing wasn't as hard as Perry thought. Maybe his job was really just telling people things like that.

“Yeah, whatever.” He opened the door. “Hey, pastor! He's here.”

Perry didn't pay attention to who Gill called now. He looked around the church. The interior was pretty much like he expected. Nothing big, but still interesting. It had this humble, familiar aura.

“I keep telling you, but you never listen…” A quiet voice replied softly. “I'm just helping out…I'm not a pastor…But he is…?”

The agent noticed someone pointing at him. He jolted and turned to the person. A kind of short guy, probably a little younger than him, with blue hair and glasses. “You must be Elliott, if I'm not mistaken?”

“Yes, I'm Elliott…Elliott Churchill…Hi…And you're Perry Angeles?” he shook his hand.

“Yes, that's right. I'll work here from now on!”

“I'm sure Ethel would be happy…” The boy fixed his glasses nervously and turned to Gill. “...You don't have to be here anymore, Mister Hamilton…”

The blonde did seem pretty offended, but then nodded. “Alright, you know what you're doing, I suppose. Perry, come to my house when you're done with this and the clinic.”

When he left, Elliott looked a bit relieved. “...Mister Hamilton is quite unsettling to me…But don't tell anyone I said that…”

Perry smiled at him and pretended to zip his mouth shut. “I'll see that as a confession! And to be honest, I find him a little creepy as well.”

The shorter one reciprocated the smile softly for a moment before remembering what was even going on here. “So…You know this island is Sephistic, right?”

“I do. I am Sephistic as well.” Perry replied. Well, there were many different denominations for the harvest religion. While there were multiple ones practiced in England, Sephism and Eifism were the two biggest ones, and the area Perry grew up in was Sephistic as well.

It was kind of interesting how this island was, too, because it seemed like most people in the US, especially in rural parts, were Gaiastic.

“Okay. Well, I suppose you already know what to do…?” Perry nodded shyly. But he actually had no idea. The last time he was at a church was ages ago. “You look a little nervous, so don't worry, I'll show you around…I won't leave you alone…” The way Elliott was, he was quiet, but knew what to do, made the new ‘pastor’ feel safe.

He led him to a door. “This is the bedroom. And a nice poster of the harvest goddess…Watch out, that's a glass door–”

He didn't hear or properly listen to what Elliott said, so he accidentally ended up walking against it. Perry wasn't hurt anywhere as far as he knew, but the door didn't have any luck.

“...You broke the door…”

“I am so sorry–”

“No, wait, I'm sure it's okay. It's just glass.” Elliott stepped through the part where the glass used to be and ended up in a room. “The door was locked and the key was nowhere to be found. So maybe I should thank you.”

“Really?’ Perry followed him. This room was just as small as the previous one, it didn't seem to have anything interesting, either. “Why, what's in here?”

He didn't need an answer, he shifted his gaze to a pile of papers and shelves in the corners of the room. He stared at them like a predator at its prey. This was it. He had no idea how that could help with Jin, but there would surely be an explanation. “That must be it…Bloody hell!”

“That must be what?” Elliott scowled at him (Most likely for swearing) and kneeled down to take a look at one of the documents. “What is this? It looks like a report.”

Perry's eyes widened. Maybe those were the important files Bigbee talked about. What if Elliott confiscated them? No, why would he? Honestly, Perry just felt like he already failed his mission.

But to his surprise, the boy put them away and got up. “It's not important right now, you can take a look and if it's something important you just try to keep it safe.”

The pastor in training let out a sigh of relief and now followed the substitute back into the other room.

“Yes, so you can see there's a bed and a shelf with books…you know, all that. I like this church…” Elliott said softly. “I hope for you many people will visit…You don't have anyone else besides you living here…”

Perry frowned at that, he didn't like being alone, but he was going to figure out how to deal with loneliness. Actually, it wouldn't be hard, since he was also going to help out at the clinic. “I'm sure I'll be fine, don't worry.”

“Okay. I will try and visit you from time to time, I can bring my father or sister, too."

He found it sweet how much Elliott seemed to care. Yolanda mentioned his father is a pastor himself and he also seemed to be so passionate about it. If he wasn't Eifistic, he'd probably take over that job here himself. But then Perry would probably have a disadvantage, so it was alright.

Perry glanced over to the poster that was on the wall right next to the bed. The flair gave medieval vibes, it was probably from that time. Colors bright yet mute. It showed the Harvest Goddess next to a strange tree, a sun with multiple colors above her. “And what's this?”

“I think it's just a poster.” Elliott shrugged. “It looks nice, don't you agree? It must've been here for ages already…I mean, the colors are very drained.”

For some reason, he had a strange feeling looking at it, not in a bad way, though. But if the shorter one said so, it really was just a poster, huh.

Elliott spent the rest of noon showing Perry everything else. This was a good opportunity for the spy to ask how he usually prepared his sermons to preach them on Sundays and then watched Elliott do it (honestly in a very neat manner) with the warning “I've only watched my father do it, so it might be wrong.” and then also explain why he highlighted this and that and what the message is.

“Ah, thank you so much, I was feeling a little unconfident about it all.” Perry hushed, bowing down. “By the way, what about confessions?”

“Confessions?” The other boy stared at him. “You do realize your denomination doesn't do them…?”

Right. When was the last time Perry even set foot in a church…He was feeling really bad about all of this now. “Oh– Yeah, I do know! I was just wondering, since I heard sephism is a bit different here in the US…”

“Yes, that's right. Hmm, I'd say we're done here for now.” Elliott said, but then for some reason stared at Perry, his eyes even going up and down for a while.

That was super uncomfortable. Maybe he was going to find out Perry wasn't actually a pastor in training, and neither a nurse…He was probably going to say something like–

“Say, are you related to the Churchills in any way?”

“Eh?”

“It's a silly question…” Elliott parted his bangs a little out of embarrassment. “But I just can't help it. You're British, you have teal hair, you're not only active in the medical field, but also work in a church…”

“Is that a stereotype?” Perry frowned.

“N-No! I'm just saying that…well, I actually mean that blue to teal hair runs in my family, as well as working in the church or in a hospital…And it originated in England.” It sounded weird, but Perry got kinda hooked on that now.

“Hear me out, I have two cousins, one of them works as the pastor in a village and his sister is in the same one, working as a nurse. And my father is a pastor as well. My other cousin is a librarian but she's in the church every day. We used to have a very documented family tree, but it got lost.” Before he could go on with his family lore, his face flushed slightly. “That sounded delusional, didn't it…”

“N-No, I think I get it! Umm, if I remember, Churchill was my great-grandmother's maiden name.” Perry lied. He was gonna get in trouble. Why did he even say that now?

The other boy’s eyes widened a little at that and he held his chin to think. “Too bad I can't remember everything…If your grandmother…maybe you're…My great-grandfather had a lot of siblings, so she must’ve been one of them.” Before he could reply anything, Elliott smiled. Not this soft, shy one he did today, but a happy, genuine one. “That means we're third cousins, then!”

“That must be it! I didn't know she came from such a documented family.” He replied sheepishly. And he felt really bad now. Elliott was a good guy and he lied to him. For a mission. Oh, well, that's what you do when you're a spy.

“It's really nice. Third cousins don't sound like much, but since your family has had a different surname for quite a while now, it's still good to see that even those follow the typical career path…” Elliott sighed. “But that's it for today, you should get to the clinic, right?”

Perry was already tired. Sure, this was honestly a little fun, but having this introduction all over again was going to be draining… “Yeah.”

“I'll bring you there.”

“No, you really don't have to-” When they stepped outside, the cold autumn air suddenly slapping into Perry's face, Gill was waiting in front of the church again. He had a croissant in his hand, so hopefully he wasn't waiting there the whole time. Would be creepy.

“Hey. Done already?” he asked, taking a final bite of the pastry.

“Yes, I was just going to escort him to the clinic. Perry is a very kind person and I was happy to introduce him to the church.” Elliott explained, lowering his head slightly.

The blonde eyed both of them for a moment before doing a small gesture with his hand. “Good. You don't have to bring him there, I will.”

Perry's eyebrow raised, but Gill was his “guide” and probably got assigned to take care of all the introduction stuff, so it wasn't that strange. “Alright. Cheerio, Elliott!”

“Cheerio. I'm going back home today, so I'll give you a bell sometime.”

They only knew for a few hours (And Perry lied to him big time), but he felt sad about him leaving already. They would've gotten along so well. And wait, how was he even going to call him? Then again, there was a telephone at the church.

“Gosh, it's suddenly way colder than usual…” Gill shivered, quickening the pace he was walking at. “So, what did you do in there?”

“Hmm, Elliott showed me all the stuff there and I watched him analyze a sermon. You know, for refreshing everything.” Honestly, Perry didn't really feel like telling Gill that they found out they're “related”, since it wasn't even the case.

“I see.” The blonde let out a soft hum, not looking at Perry at all. He was keeping his head up, as if a book was on it – or something. Not long after, the two men returned to the blue building that’d rather fit a pirate themed restaurant than a clinic. “There we are. Choral Clinic. I'm at home, come over when you're done here.”

Perry waved him goodbye tiredly and then knocked on the door. Nobody opened it, though. Why would anyone open the door for you at a clinic? Why would someone even knock? Perry was just too polite. He decided to go inside. “Hello?”

The pleasant, yet extreme smell of disinfectant stinged his nose. And there was also a hint of…chinese food? In the distance? The clinic itself looked alright, nothing special. Just dull, blue and white colors across the room as well as small plants in the corners. And there was an elderly lady, probably Irene, sitting at the reception, her face buried in a newspaper. The smell of takeout seemed to originate from her.

“Yes?” she spoke up, not giving him a single look.

“I-”

“Are you Mister Angeles?” she now asked, still not looking up.

“Yes, ma'am.”

At least now she put the paper away. Huh, she didn't look Asian. The old dress she wore would rather make her look like a soon-to-be-widow who's visiting her dying husband rather than an assistant or whatever she was. Her expression seemed tired. Uninterested. No, strict. Perry couldn't read it.

“Ah, you're done? Good. My name is Irene Won, I help out my grandson. Or rather…he helps me out.” Getting up from her seat, she now looked at the newcomer from all directions by tilting her head. “We're grateful for every help we receive. This island is small and I'm not exactly young anymore.” Irene then finally extended her hand.

His target’s grandmother…

“Hello there! I'm Perry Angeles. You already know that, I think.” he greeted, straightening up to shake her hand. It was unnaturally cold and wet, she probably disinfected her hands frequently.

The corners of Irene’s mouth went up slightly. “Yes, I know. Well then, let's turn you into a competent member of this hospital as fast as possible!”

It was a small clinic. Next the reception was a small waiting room, despite it being dull it definitely didn't give an intimidating atmosphere. So whatever Jin was doing, he did a good job hiding it…so far. No, Perry didn't even meet him yet, so he couldn't judge. Behind that was the exam room, that's where he and Irene went.

The vibe was different. Not a dangerous one, either. This room was very light due to the big window at the wall letting all the sunlight in. Otherwise it was a typical examination room. “You'll just follow me or Jin around most of the time. Oh…and call him Doctor Jin, he doesn't like it when someone calls him by his given name only.” (So Gill lied!) she opened the wooden drawer, looking for a syringe and needle. “You can see blood, right?”

“Yes, ma'am.” Perry saw a lot of blood when he was still in spy training. He was following a veteran, who got the task to eliminate a small group of criminals that were living in an abandoned house. Perry couldn't sleep for a week but that paid off…or something.

“I hope you're a visual learner…” sje said quietly. Why? Oh no, did she know that he was a spy all along? Great, Perry didn't take the gun he had in his backpack with him. He should have his taser, if he remembered correctly, though…

“This clinic originally was just a regular house built at the same time as the others, apparently a pirate lived here. My grandson and I have lived here for a long time already. We came here from London. But originally, we're from China, I personally prefer to use traditional chinese healing methods on patients, my grandson doubts them.”

She already didn't tell him that they moved back to London two years ago and came back shortly after. But honestly, it was unnecessary.

Irene went upstairs, Perry reluctantly followed. Normally, when you go upstairs, the temperature rises. But when they did, it got colder. Probably even colder than outside.

“He’s here.” Was the first thing Irene said when they got through the door upstairs.

Perry could see a bed, someone was lying in it. There was also the repetitive beeping sound of a heart monitor. A woman, her face covered in her dark lavender hair, holding the patient’s hand. With them, a tall figure in a white gown with long, black hair, facing the two from behind.

Jin.

“Very good.” he turned around, his long, black hair swaying in the wind. His eyes were sharp, like a bloody knife. He looked even more intimidating than in the pictures. “Welcome to the clinic, Perry.” He handed Irene a clipboard. Perry instinctively extended his hand, but Jin bowed. “My name is Jin Won. Pleased to meet you.”

“Y-Yeah, I'm Perry…Angeles…nice to meet you, too.” his throat was sore. It was hard speaking . Obviously not because Perry was flustered, but because he was scared of Jin. Not good.

The doctor gave him a confident smile before clearing his throat in an elegant manner. “Mira, Carl, this is Perry. The new pastor. And he also helps out here.”

The couple smiled at him, but Irene interrupted any further interaction because she now bent down to take Carl's arm. “Take a good look now.” She instructed, inserting the syringe in his elbow, slowly pouring a bit of blood in a tube. Mira looked away.

“Is my husband alright, doctor…?” she asked, her voice quiet. The way Carl looked…He seemed to be around the same age as Mira, maybe around 40. The dark rings under his eyes and the pale skin made him look genuinely exhausted, as if he couldn't even think for himself anymore. He was conscious, but he wasn't going to be for long…

Neither Jin nor Irene responded to anything. The elderly woman gave the sample to the doctor, who then stored it in his labcoat. “I'll be back.” he told the couple. “Perry, come with me.”

He was going to be alone with the man he was supposed to spy on? Perry felt incredibly unsafe right now.

“I'm going to examine the blood now. I wanted to show you, because I can explain things to others better when I show what I'm doing.” They went into a small room. The only source of light was the computer screen. There was a window, but it was covered.

Jin sat down, gesturing the trainee to sit next to him and placed the tube in a machine. It reminded Perry of inserting a disc into the computer.

“Now we wait.” The doctor then said, leaning back in his chair.

“How long?” Perry asked. Gosh, why did he?

Jin got up and pulled the curtains away, letting the light fly in. “A few minutes.” He then turned to his coffee machine. “Want a coffee?”

“I don't drink coffee, I drink tea.”

The doctor hummed approvingly. “Your toast? How do you like it?”

This was a bit strange. “I like my toast done on one side…?”

“Yes. I can hear it in your accent when you talk. You're an…”

“Englishman in-”

“Not in New York, in Harmonica Town.”

Perry's face flushed. Did Jin just reference a song? That was awkward. “Well, yes, and I thought you knew I am…?”

Jin shrugged, smiling again. “I wanted to see if you're cultured.” A high-pitched noise came out of the computer and the doctor sat back down. “The results are in.”

He opened a file which Perry couldn't read. There were random letters and numbers next to it. “This looks bad. Really bad.”

“Why, what's wrong with him?” The younger one tried reading whatever was on the screen.

“Well…” Jin sighed and took his glasses off, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Carl has always been ill. I can't tell you what he has. Medical confidentiality and all that. But it has gotten so bad now…I'm giving him a week maximum.” he was saying it in a completely neutral tone, just like any other doctor usually did.

Perry didn't know what to say. That was horrible. Poor guy. And how would his wife feel if she found out? She was already looking like she hadn't taken proper care of herself in a while and couldn't even look when Irene took a blood sample.

The doctor placed his chin on his hands, his eyes still glued to the screen. “I need to figure out a way to get her through her husband's death. Mira is in a very fragile state, I'm afraid that she's…going to follow him soon, if you know what I mean.”

“That's not nice to assume.” Perry frowned. Why would you immediately think of the worst. Yes, he didn't know Mira, but still…

“I know. But you know it's true.”

Both men sat there in silence until Jin chugged his coffee down in one setting. He was either diabolical or very tired. Or both. Perry actually even forgot he made himself any coffee.

Jin left his seat again. “Let's go back. We can't tell her yet.”

Mira perked up immediately as soon as the door opened. “What did it say?”

“It’s the same as before.” he never said the blood values got worse, so maybe that was the truth. Still, he couldn't treat her like this. Jin was pulling something else out of his labcoat, but his hand jolted into the other. “Great.” he hissed. Tensing up, he added: “I just cut my finger, don't worry.”

Irene glanced over. “Why don't you put a band-aid on his finger, Perry?”

“Nainai, that's–”

“Be quiet, he needs to learn. I won't be here anymore one day.” she then handed the younger one a bandaid.

Perry grimaced in anger. “Maybe you shouldn't say that.” he muttered before turning to the doctor. “Could you, uh, give me your hand?”

“Sure.” Jin huffed, not looking fond of this situation, either. His gaze was piercing and hungry for a mistake, Perry felt it, even though he wasn't looking up at him.

He carefully peeled off the two films on the backside of the aid, pinching it at the ends with his fingernails and pressing the middle part on Jin’s injury, making sure to apply a little pressure when he fixed it. “There.”

“Ah, good job. Thanks.”

“You two are funny.” A voice then said.

Perry wondered where it came from when Jin waved his hand dismissively. “We're not funny, Carl.”

He was still able to talk, even if not a lot, like it seemed.

“How are you feeling?” Perry then asked him, nearing his bed a little.

“I'm okay.” he shrugged. “Mira is with me, that's all that matters.”

Instead of getting flustered or blushing, Mira teared up. She took a handkerchief and wiped her tears away.

“Don't cry…” he coughed, to which her tears only multiplied.

Poor man. They both deeply cared for each other, Mira and Carl were a truly wonderful pair but death was going to take him too early from her. This made Perry want to never marry anyone. Well, good thing he was a pastor now. Then again, priests were the ones who weren't allowed to marry, not pastors. And this wasn't even about Perry to begin with.

There wasn't anything interesting happening after this, Jin was showing Perry everything and explained the most common causes for people here to stop by here. Somewhere around four, Jin spoke up..

“You can go now.”

“What?”

“You're free today! I don't think anything else is going to happen today.”

Perry nodded tiredly. “Okay.”

“Just come here tomorrow as soon as you have time.” Jin then said. “Oh, and…just so you know, maybe you should be prepared to see some more deaths during your stay…During the last few years, we've lost some.”

Yeah, because you murdered them, Jin. But Perry would never say that aloud.

“How about you escort Mira outside?” Irene suggested, the other woman next to her.

He nodded and held her the door open before waving the two doctors goodbye. He then turned to her. “I'm really sorry.”

Mira let out a shaky sigh, but smiled. “Don't be, it's not like you have anything to do with this.”

“But still…”

“...I know he's…going to die soon…”

Perry's eyebrows raised.

“Doctor Jin thinks I'm mentally incapable of processing my husband's death…I…I always knew he wouldn't make it past 40. But he's been a little better lately, so maybe…I don't know. Of course it's going to be sad, I spent more than half my life with him…I'm”

“Do you…have any other people around who are there for you?”

“Yes, of course. My nephew, Julius. And the other people in the Garmon mine district.”

Garmon mine district…? Right, Castanet wasn't just Harmonica town, obviously. Hopefully Perry could spend his days visiting Mira there and meeting the other people as well.

“Do you have a long way to go?” Perry wondered out loud. He didn't mean to, but this was actually a good question. It was getting dark soon, and…

“No, I’ll use the minecart.”

Minecart?

“You know? It's right next to the church.” Mira gestured uphill. “More specifically at the graveyard.”

“I haven't seen that one, yet. I'll bring you there!”

The woman led him to the church grounds, where they went downstairs. Perry hasn't seen the graveyard yet, either. Living near a graveyard was going to be strange. At the end of it was a track.

“Here it is. It brings you to Garmon in no time.” Mira said, getting inside. “Do you want to come with me?”

“I'd love to!” Perry smiled. But then he remembered that he had to visit Gill…His face fell. “But I can't. The mayor's son asked if I could stop by his place after I'm done with work.”

“Then how about tomorrow? I live at the accessory shop!” She looked like she wanted to elaborate further, but the cart already started rolling. “See you!”

“Cheerio!” he called after her, then the cart already rolled away. Right, the mayor's house it was. When Perry went back to town, he couldn't help but think about Carl and Mira. She mentioned earlier that he's been doing better lately. Perry heard somewhere that if dying people are feeling more energetic, they…

It hit him.

A star shines brightest before its death.

Exhausted, he looked for the house Gill showed him yesterday. No, the one at the front was the town hall, so it must've been the one at the side of it. It was only 5PM, but Perry really wanted to sleep now.

It looked like the Hamiltons were the only family that had a garden. The garden was pretty, but it was so...bland? There was only grass. (freshly mowed)

He knocked on the door and heard someone talking in the distance, the voice got louder until the door opened. But Perry didn't see anyone?

“Hello there, Perry!” Looking down, he noticed a chubby elderly man that looked like a stuffed animal with a weird, grey string of hair that resembled an antenna. “I'm Mayor Hamilton! You already know my son, Gilbert. Come on in!”

“Oh, thank you. I'm Perry Angeles.” he hushed, going inside. The interior was how you'd expect it from a mayor. Auburn walls and floor and a lot of trophies or vintage photos on the wall that probably had something to do with the town's history.

“Gilbert, Perry is here!”

Gill came out from a room, wearing glasses and then took them off. “Hey, Perry. Done with work? I was working on some documents. I wanted to ask if you want to eat dinner with us?”

Is that why he invited him here? Honestly, that was…really nice of him. Perry could cook, but a slow one. He'd only be able to afford himself something low-quality now and preparing it would take an hour, too. “Yes, that's really nice. Thanks a lot.”

“Great!” Hamilton chirped. “The casserole is ready, I hope you like broccoli and cheese.”

“Yes, sir.” he followed them into the kitchen, where Gill sat down and gestured Perry to sit next to him.

Hamilton opened the oven and got it out, placing it on the table. “Sorry it looks so bad, the quality of the food has dropped lately. We even had to cancel the harvest festival that was supposed to take place in a few days.”

“Oh, really?” Perry looked at the dish. It looked fine to him. Or maybe he was hungry. No, it did look good. “That's a shame. But I don't see anything wrong with the casserole, sir.”

“I do,” Gill spoke up. “It's usually not pale. Ehh, doesn't matter, thank you for cooking, father.” He put a small portion of the casserole on his plate.

Hamilton gave his son an annoyed look. “You're never gonna get full from this.”

“Ugh, father…”

“Ah, right. I'm sorry, Perry, I was just worrying because my son hasn't been eating a lot lately…”

Gill groaned while Perry gave a nervous smile, not knowing what to say. Hamilton then coughed, startling the two. “Sorry, I'm still a little under the weather…”

The blond shrugged. “It's fine. I was actually wondering if you had any trouble at your jobs today, Perry.”

“What? Me? No, both jobs were great. I'm sure I can handle having two jobs.” When in reality, he had three. “Doctor Jin and Irene were very nice people, I'm glad I can work with them.”

“And with the rest of the townsfolk? Do you get along with them?”

“I haven't met a lot yet. So far I talked to the family at the inn, they're a bit loud but I felt welcome when I stayed with them yesterday...And I talked to Pascal, nice guy. Also Carl and Mira, both very lovely people.”

“Too bad Carl won't be here for long anymore.” Hamilton replied.

“Father, seriously?”

“What? It's true.”

“Just…ugh…”

Perry had the feeling Gill was actually the one taking care of his father than vice versa. Hamilton sure was acting like a child.

“Thank you for the food.” Perry said when he finished his plate. “I liked it a lot. Especially the red onions and the sauce.”

“Yes, yes, but don't thank me, I got the sauce hollandaise from Yolanda! If you want, I can give some of it to you, if you'd like.

Perry did need as many ingredients as he could get, so he was happy with the suggestion. “Really? I think that'd be ni-”

“No, father, you're just trying to be too nice. Anyway, it's late, don't you agree?”

“Yeah.” It irked him how Gill was making decisions for everyone, and that annoyed him, so he did want to leave now.

“Okay then, I'll bring you outside. You know where the church is, right?”

“I do.”

The two got up and Gill brought Perry outside. “Look, I'm really sorry, it's just that…well, my father isn't really young anymore…He's already 60.”

“60 doesn't sound like a lot to me.”

“But he's just like that. Well, I'll see you around, right? You can come over whenever you want.”

That was nice, but did he really want to deal with Gill and Hamilton’s weird arguments every day? “Great, then I'll stop by again sometime! Cheerio!”

“Uh, yeah. Cheerio.”

When Gill closed the door and the house was out of sight, Perry went home as fast as he could. Not because he was running away, but because he needed to remember everything that happened today to write it down. He just needed to think how to turn the info he collected into a report that could be sent to Bigbee without raising any suspicions…

Chapter Text

“You're gonna come with me.”

Jin led Perry into the small laboratory yesterday again and opened the door.

Something was off.

There was a bathtub, Perry honestly never noticed it before…

Jin pulled the curtains away.

Bigbee was sitting inside it, dead. He'd been shot.

“What did you do to him?!”

“You think I'm that dumb, Perry? Or should I rather say…”

“...This is a dream, isn't it.”

“...Yes.”

When Perry woke up, he exhaled in relief. Of course it was going to be a dream. How would Bigbee even get here? He was smart enough not to.

He looked at his alarm he brought with himself, but he forgot to set one yet. It was 7:02AM. Right, his alarm was set at seven when he was still in London, after all. Did he have a good sleep? Maybe.

“Jin…” he pressed his fingers against his temples and tried remembering what the doctor said yesterday. When was he supposed to stop by at the clinic again? “...Meet me at…at twelve…no. As…as soon as I can.”

When he got ready, he decided to take a look in the fridge. For a moment, he was scared it'd be empty, but Elliott mentioned he'd leave something for him there…It was just corn, salad and milk. And bread, too. A small sandwich should work.

Maybe it was best to get to the clinic right away. Perry was very worried about Carl, even if he knew nothing about his condition. And spying on Jin as much as possible was also mandatory to him.

The cold autumn air made him shiver immediately. Good thing he brought a coat along. Something small and black suddenly started rushing towards the entrance as soon as he opened the door. Perry was still tired and didn't know what it was. A demon?! No, of course not. Still, he closed the door immediately, who knew what it was.

“Meow…”

A cat.

“Oh…Are you alright?” Perry bent down to pet it, the feline leaned into his hand, purring. “If you're that happy to see a stranger, that's no good, you know. You must be hungry. If you stay here until I'm home, I'll bring you something, okay?”

The cat probably didn't understand, but he gave it a soft headpat before leaving.

“Good morning, Perry, you're here early.” Irene remarked, just about to go upstairs when he entered the clinic, a small, white pile of clothes in her arms. “Great timing, I just got the laundry out, there's something for you, too.” she handed him a white jacket with blue accents.

“Thank you!” he immediately tried it on and to his surprise, the elderly woman gave him a thumbs up.

“By the way, Jin is upstairs with Carl.” she then added before disappearing into another room. Which room was it? Their apartment?

When Perry went upstairs, he couldn't help but wonder how Carl was doing. The temperature here was almost as cold as outside, so hopefully he wasn't freezing.

Jin stood at the patient's bed and turned to the door when it opened. “Hello, Perry. I was just measuring Carl's temperature.”

“And what does it say?”

The doctor looked at the thermometer for a moment. “100 degrees.”

“100?! Bloody hell, this must be a mistake!!” The trainee rushed to the bed. The patient was tucked in a thick blanket and weakly glanced over to him. Just now, Perry worried whether he'd been freezing or not, now he was seemingly overheating. “Carl, are you alright?!”

Carl gave him a weird look. “Yes, don't worry, I know it's considered a fever, but it's been like this for a while now.”

“I get it.” Jin smirked. “You're using celsius, not fahrenheit. Because you're British.”

“You lived the majority of your life in London as well, doctor!” Carl replied, coughing right after.

Perry facepalmed. Why didn't he have that in mind? How unprofessional… “How many is that in celsius, then?”

“Around 38? Carl's temperature is the least important thing, though. He needs his medications.” The doctor placed a stack of boxes that contained several pills on Carl's nightstand.

Watching the poor guy suffer hurt a lot. Perry wasn't supposed to feel any genuine emotion here for anyone, but he didn't care. If he were in this situation, he wouldn't know what to do, either.

“Good, we'll leave you alone now, Carl.” Jin bowed a little. “Perry, follow m-” He was silent for a moment and then turned to the stairs that lead down. “...Change of plans, let's go downstairs.”

Perry waved Carl goodbye and followed the doctor. What was going on? Did Jin realize something? Take note of a thing nobody else noticed? When they arrived, they could hear Irene talk.

“Yes, just as I expected.” Jin fixed his glasses. “A patient?”

The elderly turned to them. “Anissa is here to see you.”

When he heard that, the doctor bowed immediately, this time a bit lower. “Good morning, Miss Bujari.”

Anissa had long, straight dark hair and amber siren eyes. And a beauty mark. Her outfit gave the hint she came from the more rural side of this island. She bowed as well. “Good morning.” And then, she turned to Perry, smiling. “Who are you?”

“I'm…” He couldn't speak. There was something in his throat, he had to choke his words out somehow. “Perry Angeles…”

“Welcome! My name is Anissa Bujari, I live at Marimba Farm alongside my family. And while I was working, I cut my hand, it won't stop bleeding…” she now held up her left hand, Perry had only looked at her face, so he was shocked to find a red bandage around it, soaked with blood.

“Nainai, get me some iron. Perry, stay here and look at what I do.” The three now went into the examination room, where Jin immediately grabbed something from a shelf. A syringe. He put some gloves on and gave Perry a pair as well.

Anissa frowned a little. “Is it really that bad?”

“It's been a while since you've gotten a vaccine for tetanus, right? We have to make sure you won't get any infections from this.” he pulled her sleeve up just like that, first disinfecting it and then inserting the syringe. “Perry, now take a good look. Hopefully you'll be able to do this as well soon.”

When he injected the vaccine, Anissa grimaced in pain. Right, this vaccine hurts way more than usual ones, after all. When Jin was done, Perry already gave him a bandaid that was lying on the table. “Oh, you're learning fast. Good job. Well, now to your hand. Perry, you can remove it, right?”

Perry nodded and Anissa reached her hand out slightly. He carefully removed the formerly white ribbon and discarded it into the trash bin Jin pointed at.

“Hmm, it doesn't seem to bleed as much anymore. But your hand looks paler than usual.” Thinking for a moment, he then grabbed a disinfected tissue, cleaning the woman's hand with it and then cutting a bandaid for it to fit onto the scratch across her palm. After looking at it for a moment, he nodded. “Should be fine now. Just-” Irene came inside and handed her grandson a package with iron pills. “Just take one of these now and before going to bed, tomorrow, too.”

“I will. Thanks a lot, you three!” Anissa giggled.

“How did that even happen?” Perry asked her when she was about to head outside.

“Oh, I was plucking some grass I could use, but I guess I grabbed it wrong and then my hand was just bleeding and bleeding, I tried going here as fast as I could.”

Upon hearing this, Jin sighed. “Really? You could've collapsed.”

“Oh, Doctor, you're worrying about me too much! Well, I'll get going. My family must be worried, too.”

“Guilty as charged. Still, I have the right to worry. I'll bring you outside.”

Perry couldn't help but scowl at Jin for a moment. He didn't know why, but he did until he left the building.

“Anissa is a great young lady.” Irene sighed.

“Yeah. She is…” he really didn't remember the last time he felt drawn to someone like this. And he also knew he had no chance. Why did love at first sight even exist?! Well, it wasn't love. More like a crush, how most people would say. But that sounded dumb, too…Maybe he just shouldn't worry about it.

“Thanks for your help again today, Perry.” Jin said when the trainee was about to head out. “Oh, Miss Bujari also asked me to give you this.” he got up and gave him some carrots. “Her family owns a farm, so she frequently gives some of the vegetables away.”

Perry's hazel eyes were glowing with happiness. A gift from Anissa…”That's really nice. I'll thank her when I see her again!” he waved the doctor goodbye and twirled out of the door, immediately taking a bite of the carrot. It tasted like a regular carrot with a small hint of dirt, but at least no chemicals all the veggies had when you'd buy them in a supermarket.

He arrived at the church plaza again, the black cat from earlier was still there. He kinda forgot about it. But he still had some bread at home, so he rushed inside to get it and then gave it to the cat.

“I'll get you a proper meal as soon as I figure out where I can buy it…” Perry sighed, taking a last bite. “You got a name?”

As expected, the feline didn't really reply to anything, so he crawled its head. “It's okay, I don't have a name, either.”

Perry leaned back slightly, watching into the sky. “When I was a kid, someone told me animals don't come near bad people. I'm not a good person, still you're with me. Or is it just because I'm feeding you…?”

The cat finished the bread, looking at him for a moment, before their pupils shrunk and they fled by jumping over a bush.

“Oh…”

“AND IT WAS THIS BIG! BELIEVE IT! I'M TELLING YA!”

“Aw, c'mon, monster insects can't exist. They've got their skeleton outside of their body, so–”

“Pff, maybe Luke just thought it was a monster bug because he's so short.”

Perry spotted three guys walking towards the plaza. He squinted his eyes to take a closer look. A buff guy, a literal stick and an average but short one. No, he wasn't necessarily short, the two guys next to him were just above average height.

They all stopped walking as soon as they noticed him. “Hey, is that a homeless man?” The shortest one now asked.

“Luke! He can hear us!” The stick hissed. “I think that's the new pastor.” He approached him. “Yo, sorry about Luke. Are you alright?”

Perry smiled nervously, getting up and dusting off his jacket he got earlier today. It wasn't a good idea to wear it after work... “It's fine. I'm fine. I fed a cat but it ran away just now.”

“You fed the cat? That's a good sign.” The buff guy now said. “Ethel always scared her away because she insisted black cats bring bad luck. But that's bullshit. By the way, I'm Owen! Owen Foot.”

The stick grinned sheepishly, as if he forgot about the introduction part. “I'm Boris Brown, everyone just calls me Bo.”

“And I'm LUKE! Luke the EXTREME Carpenter!!” The last one announced, doing a spin.

They were an odd trio, but Perry honestly liked them. “My name is Perry Angeles, I'm the new pastor and also help out at Doctor Jin’s.”

The three guys frowned at that. “Oh, we're sorry.” Bo said. “He can be strange…”

“Who gives a SHIT about him?! Yo, Perry, can I call you Platypus?”

“Luke!”

The pastor blinked. Luke blinked back innocently. “Um, why?”

“Don't you watch TV? You remind me of PERRY THE PLATYPUS FROM PHINEAS AND FERB! He's a spy!”

A spy.

Oh no.

“Hahaha, that's strange…” he replied nervously, parting his bangs a little. “Please don't.”

“Yeah, uh, anyway…” Owen gave both of his friends a questioning look, both nodded at that. Then, he smiled. “I heard you arrived two days ago and haven't been able to explore most of the island yet. Would you like to hang out with us for a bit? We live at the Garmon Mines, so we could show you around and introduce you to everyone!”

“Oh, I'd love to. I wanted to visit Mira, anyway.”

“Cool! We'll use the minecart, I think there's enough space for four people.”

They all walked downstairs. Except for Luke, he ran there. “I WANNA SIT AT THE FRONT! I NEED MY EXTREME ADRENALINE RUSH!”

“Sure.” Bo rolled his eyes and checked the cart before getting inside. “Hmm, it's getting old. We need to be careful, so let's split. Luke, Owen, you go first. Push the minecart back when you arrive!”

“Okay.” Owen let Luke jump inside and then followed, waving Bo and Perry goodbye as they drove away, Luke could be heard yelling “EXTREEEEEME!” off into the far distance.

Perry wondered if the ride was dangerous. “How long does it take?” He asked Bo.

“A little more than a minute! That's crazy because if you go there by foot you need to walk for like half an hour. And also pass this abandoned farm house.”

“Abandoned farm house?”

“Oh, yeah.” Bo nodded, zipping his jacket up slightly because it suddenly became colder. “I don't know anything about that, though. I moved here four years ago.” The minecart came back already. “They were this fast? Wow.” He pulled it to him but then paused. “Do you want to sit in the front or back?”

“Um, I don't mind.”

“I'll sit at the front, then!” The blond got in and looked back, signaling Perry to get inside as well. When he did, he leaned forward. “Okay, brace yourself.” The minecart started rolling.

“Weird.” Perry thought. “It's not as fast as I imag–” All of a sudden, the cart sped up in no time. It felt like they were driving at lightning speed now. “BLOODY HELL, WHY IS IT SO FAST?! AHHH!”

Bo laughed and leaned even more forward to get it to roll faster. “Calm down, that's normal!”

“I WON'T SURVIVE THIS!! BO, WE'VE ONLY KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR LIKE TEN MINUTES BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I'M ACTUALLY—”

The cart stopped abruptly, Perry fell into Bo’s back. “Ow, don't fall on me like that!” He got out and helped the pastor get out of it as well.

“I'm gonna throw up.” Perry muttered, turning to a bush.

“Calm down, it wasn't that bad.”

Perry turned back and shrugged, still feeling a little sick. “You're right. But I'm not sure if I want to do this again.”

The blond smiled at him for a moment and then spoke up. “What did you wanna tell me?”

“Oh! Umm, well, it's a little embarrassing, but…” Now he had to come up with something. “I'm only a pastor in training.”

“Haha, what, that's it? But that's completely fine! I forgot to mention it, but I'm also in training. As a carpenter.” Bo pat Perry's back. “Now, where are–”

“You alright, Perry?” Owen asked, leaning against the cart, Luke next to him. They weren't here a moment ago. “We heard you screaming.”

“Yeah…It was my first time being in a minecart…” he gagged again but then managed to calm somewhat down. “We're in Garmon mines now, right?”

“Yep!” Luke nodded. “Hands down, best place on this island!”

Perry looked around. There were huge mountains surrounding the area, some houses hanging from them. They had no visible stairs whatsoever, so maybe they were abandoned. The more “modern” houses were at the same level as the four were standing, some of them having a front yard. Whether they were in a better condition than the seemingly abandoned houses was questionable, almost all of these houses were done with white bricks and a lot of cement stains. To the left was some weird kind of entrance into one of the mountains, the mines.

He couldn't help but feel weirded out by this place, but he definitely wasn't scared of anything, it was just strange.

Luke pointed to the only wooden building around them. “I live there with my old man and Bo! We're carpenters! How about we go in and I will show you my EXTREME house?!”

“Sure! I'm in.”

The carpenter let out a yowl of happiness and dashed to his house, almost running against the door but stopping on time so he slid right in front of it. He pulled a key out and needed a few tries to get it inside the hole and then opened the door, letting everyone in.

It smelled like petrol, vodka and wood. Not really a good combination, it stung the nose.

“Yo, Pops! We got some company!”

Someone came up from behind the counter. A man that looked just like Luke but chubby, with a beard and obviously older. His expression was the opposite of his, though. Stoic and annoyed. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed Perry. “Yo. You're the new pastor, right? And also the doctor?”

“N-Not a doctor, sir. I just help out. But you got it right otherwise.” Perry clarified hastily.

“Don't call me Sir, that's not my style. It's Dale.” he gave him a solid handshake. His grip was very strong. “I hope my boys didn't cause any trouble?”

Owen couldn't help but laugh at that. “Pff, you should've seen Luke!”

“I'm a good boy!”

“Sure you are.”

“As I thought.” Dale rolled his eyes but then switched back to the previous conversation again. It seemed like he'd been fixing a small cart, but he then put the hammer away that was in his hand. “What's your name?”

“Perry Angeles…”

“Ahh. Wait, what? That's a weird name!”

“He always says things like that. Don't worry about it.” Bo whispered before clearing his throat. “Uh, let's show you our room! Luke's and mine. Owen doesn't live here, he's a blacksmith…duh.”

The trio rushed into one of the rooms, Perry following them. He looked back at Dale, who shrugged in “Don't ask me what's wrong with them.”

As he entered the room with no expectations, he got exactly what he thought of. Same type of wood and parquet as in the other room, just a more childish aura. As in posters and everything.

“I actually just wanted to get my other axe.” Luke explained, rubbing his head at the mess. “Wait, where did I even put it?!”

Bo sighed at that, looking for it as well. “Maybe you wouldn't have to look for it if your room was clean.”

“Mine is worse, y'all.” Owen replied, to which the other two gave him a look that screamed “Definitely” and he slightly flinched at that.

“I got it!” The bluenette crouched down to pick up an axe that had a fiery pattern and was way too big for him. He held it up proudly. “What do you think, Perry? Pretty fire, right?!”

Perry nodded. “Yeah, literally.” Just behind this house was a forest, he noticed as he looked out of the window. And something else he couldn't quite recognize. “What's with these stones?”

“Stones?” Owen stepped up next to him and immediately knew. “Ruins. Some people say the Harvest Goddess and her sprites live there. It's got a pond, too. So basically that area’s called goddess pond.”

“I see.” Maybe it would be a good idea to check that place out later. But alone. So probably not today.

“So, are we done here now?” Bo then asked as Luke swung around with his axe. “Please don't accidentally hit me with it!” He covered his mouth because Luke now jokingly swung the axe in his direction, making the blond whimper and hide behind Owen.

“Hah, for real, don't break anyone or anything!” The buff guy laughed as they headed out again, waving Dale goodbye.

“Okay! Okay! Look at my extreme moves now, fellas!” Luke held up his axe and then started to spin himself, Bo and Owen distanced themselves, the latter having to pull Perry with him. Because Luke suddenly let go of it and caused it to land right into a small tree, chopping it off.

“Wow!! Did you see that?!”

“We did.” The three said in unison.

At this moment, they heard footsteps that were going in their direction. Luke was about to do another trick but he stopped spinning and grinned from ear to ear. “Phoebe!”

“Hey, boys.” A girl around their age with short green hair and glasses greeted them. “What're you up to?”

Owen wrapped his arm around Perry's shoulder, making him flinch a little. “We're showing Perry the Pastor around.”

“Oh, new pastor? That's great news! I'm Phoebe.” she greeted, shaking Perry's hand. “My mom owns the general store and my dad the photo booth in town!”

“Really? Your parents must engage a lot in this community, then.”

“Yeah, we're all quite busy.” Phoebe turned around, a woman with lighter green hair, probably her mother, was taking the trash out. Phoebe waved to her mother and she waved back before heading back inside. “Heh, you'll get a chance to talk to them. Eventually.”

“Maybe we should go say my gramps and cousin hi as well?” Owen wondered. “They're living over there and I haven't seen either of them since morning.”

The group agreed and they wanted to rush there but then they saw an elderly man and a girl, Owen’s family, walk towards the mines. “Yo, guys!”

“Owen!” The girl shouted back. “I'm gonna show Grampa a really cool ore I found!”

The old man was annoyed by this, tapping the girl's head. “I told you not to wander off too deep into the mines! Owen, are you guys going to join us?”

“Nah, we have to show the fresh meat around.”

“I see. Well, I have no time right now so I'll talk to them some other time.”

They continued to walk, looking back at everyone for a moment. The girl grinned, waving with both arms while the man just gave them an annoyed smile.

“That's Chloe and Grandpa Ramsey for ya.” Owen sighed happily.

Phoebe clicked her tongue, crossing her arms. “Ramsey was right, though. Chloe really shouldn't wander off too deep. I even get lost often.”

Perry looked into the direction of the mines for a while. Mines usually weren't INSIDE a mountain, right? As a city boy he had no knowledge about life in a village whatsoever. He'd eventually find out…eventually.

“By the way,” he spoke up, “Is Mira at home? I'd like to say hi to her.”

The group shared glances and shrugs. “Well, she's at the hospital a lot, so we can't say.” Bo explained. “Oh, but you already know! I think…But her shop is over there. Her nephew's definitely at home.”

“Julius…” Luke and Owen clung to each other in fear. “Watch out, he's really mean.”

Phoebe turned to them, raising an eyebrow. “He's nice to me.”

Bo nodded, implying that was true for him, too. “Whatever, let's not leave Perry alone. To the accessory shop, then.” They all went to the door, the blond knocking on it. After waiting for a minute, someone finally opened it. A person with purple hair that was in curlers, wearing a bathrobe. Julius.

His face was a tired and annoyed expression up until a second after he opened the door, it turned into one of pure horror, stepping back. “What, are you a cult now or what?!”

“Bad timing?” Phoebe grinned.

“Yes?! I was taking a bath and I expected like…only ONE of you. Three max. But. Oh.” His amethyst eyes, honestly the fact that this was an accessory store made the resemblance to gems even cooler, went to Perry. “Are you the newcomer?”

“No, he's my stepmom.” Luke groaned sarcastically. “Of COURSE he is!”

“Hmm, well, could've actually been your relative, you kinda look alike.” Julius raised a finger. “But hey, give me a moment. The others can leave, I'd like to talk to you, okay?” He then shut the door.

The group stared at Perry as if they all were back in school, them having done something but only him getting in trouble. Owen placed his hand on the other's shoulder. “Just scream for help when something's up. We're all at Phoebe's, we'll hear it. Alright? See ya…”

Honestly, Perry didn't think Julius was going to kill him. But his tone really sounded like he was mad at him for whatever reason. It didn't have something to do with Perry being a spy, obviously, how would he even know? He shouldn't lose his head about it now, only a few minutes and he'd find out.

He leaned against the wall, trying to remember how Gill did it. Out of boredom. Gill would cross his arms, leaning one of his feet…which one…left. He'd lean his left foot against whatever he was leaning on. So when the door opened again, Perry flinched so hard he almost fell down again but he managed to save himself.

Julius, now having wavy, long purple hair, slight makeup, clothes a vampire would wear (Perry didn't really know how he'd describe it) and wearing a ton of jewelry. “Did I scare you?”

“No…”

“Come on in!”

He held him the door open and then closed it, leaning against it in an exhausted manner and frowning at Perry. “So…”

“So…?” The trainee felt a single drop of sweat run down his forehead.

Julius signed, gripping his hair with one hand. “You know my uncle's very ill, right?”

“I do.”

“And my aunt's been not taking it very well. Duh. But it's just that…I don't know, I'm scared. I'm usually not scared, but Mira and Carl have been there for me since…” he smiled painfully. “Oh, you're a pastor, you would be angry.”

His guess was that Julius was gay. He didn't know whether or not this island was homophobic, but he definitely wasn't. Why would he? “Oh, come on. It's completely fine if you do not like women in the same way as most men do.” Why did he just say that?!

Julius stared at him for a moment, before bursting out in laughter. Perry was even more confused now. After a moment, his laughter ceased and he wiped a small tear away. “Oh, that's not exactly it! I like women. It's more…my style. If you get it.” he pointed at his face.

Perry still gave a supportive smile. “I don't see a problem with the way you dress.”

“Then I'm glad.” Julius' smile turned into a dark frown again. “But we're not here to discuss that. Like I said, they were the only people in my family who let me wear what I want, so I moved here, and I never felt more welcome at their place…So seeing them like this hurts. A lot.”

Still keeping that dark stare, Perry now raised an eyebrow.

“...And that's where I'd like to thank you!”

“Huh?”

“Aunt Mira told me so much about you yesterday, oh, it was like back in the day. You only walked her home, but unlike Jin or Irene, you had a heart. They don't take her seriously at all.”

Was Mira really that thankful for him? She was, as it seemed. And even if it was just an act…well, this wasn't really an act. The spy's concern for the couple was real. So he felt happy now.

“And it would make me very happy if you'll be there for her when the moment comes. She's my aunt, so I'll obviously help, too, but she needs an entire village, you know?”

Perry nodded. “It's my job, of course I'll help. As much as I can.”

“Thank you!” Julius grinned, giving him a thumbs up. “Really, thanks a lot.”

“Oh, that's the least I can do, really.”

Julius was silent for a moment, the countenance in him clear. “Don't humble yourself. Know your worth, okay? Um, well then, your friends must be waiting.”

“Maybe. I'll get going, then. See you around, Mister Julius!”

Julius opened the door for him, waving goodbye in a girly manner. Perry had a warm feeling. This wasn't part of his mission, but it felt like it was. He briefly looked around before remembering the general store was right next to him, opening the door. “Is someone–”

The four were all sitting on the floor, watching TV. When they heard his voice, they turned around to face him. Chloe was also there now. And two other kids. One of them wearing a cap and a green jacket and the other one looking like he came out of Digimon. “WHAT DID HE SAY?!”

“Oh, he was thanking me!”

“For what?” Luke asked curiously.

“That I'm there for Mira. You know why…”

Phoebe smiled at that. “See, guys? Julius can be nice. You're just annoying him all the time.”

“We're not doing anything!” Owen protested. “He literally gets mad whenever I just…hit some rocks with my hammer!”

“Because you do it in the early morning near his house!”

“...Touché.” The blacksmith waved his hand in dismissal. “But hey, come join us, Perry! We're watching…What are we even watching?”

“Goddess Squadron Sprite Rangers!!” The kid with the cap and green jacket shouted.

Perry rolled his eyes in faux annoyance. “You're still watching kids shows?” he asked but then sat down with them.

“You don't?” Chloe asked back. “And I am a child, so I can watch it!!”

“I don't watch TV at all. Too busy.”

The kids (including Luke) booed him.

“By the way!” Owen then remembered. “That's my cousin Chloe, we met her already. This kid…” he removed the boy's cap and ruffled his hair. “...is Paolo! And this is Taylor!” he now took the last kid's goggles and removed them, putting them on himself. Neither of them minded nor even acknowledged him because they were hypnotized by the TV.

“My sister already told me about you, Mister.” Taylor mentioned, lying down.

“Huh?” Now Perry was wondering. “Who's your sister?”

“Anissa.” They didn't look anything alike.

“That's nice. Well, tell her I said hello.”

Taylor didn't say anything, he sat up again because the show was getting interesting.

When Perry was with this group, he didn't feel scared or anything. When he was with Gill or Jin, for example, he didn't really feel scared, either. Most of the time. More like he just wanted to leave as soon as possible. But right now he didn't mind staying a little longer.

Chapter Text

Winter came around and Perry quickly got used to living and working here on this island. Only a girl named Candace would show up at church the next Sunday, so instead of preaching he asked her questions about her life, such as why she was attending church, why it was important to her and you know, basic things.

Candace and her sister Luna have been raised by their grandmother Shelly since they were teenagers. Their parents passed away due to a car crash in New York, where they've been responsible for celebrity outfits at a gala.

Perry also befriended Ozzie, the fishery owner. Him, his son Paolo and his nephew Toby would invite the pastor to lunch or dinner frequently. While Perry maintained his friendship with the people he met at the Garmon Mines, he also appreciated the calmer nature Toby had. While Toby went fishing, Perry sat next to him and either heard him talk about Korean urban legends or he told him about work or what he did today.

“I think Jin was pretty surprised about the fact that Carl is still with us.” he huffed, rubbing his hands and placing them on his cheeks. The temperature was way colder than he could handle. “They gave him a week but it's been two.”

“I know why.” Toby replied, pausing so he could pull a fish out. It was a very small one. “You wouldn't believe me, but they used to be bigger like a year ago. Oh, and you also wouldn't believe me if I told you that I think Carl has been doing better because of you!”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I mean, look at Mira, she's been doing better as well.”

“Julius told me.”

Toby grinned lazily. “See?” Discarding the fish and swinging his rod into the sea again, he waited until something would bite. “It's hopeless.”

Perry got up because this cold was too much. “Don't say things like that.”

“I can't help it.” The fisherman gave up and retreated his fishing rod. “I think it's time to go back.”

Perry nodded. “I should go to work now. It's almost nine.”

Toby shook his hand. “It was nice. Come over soon.” He added before hushing back inside. This weather really was something, huh. He'd usually walk home as slow and relaxed as a turtle.

Having a true friend was rare for Perry. The people at the agency…they were nice, but…and now he remembered that he wasn't a true friend and didn't even deserve to hang out with the townsfolk. Every day after coming home he took an empty book, as many pages, if not even more, as the holy lore of the Harvest Goddess and wrote down every new information about everything and everyone.

Still, the person he knew least about was the one he spent most time with, the reason he even came here. Jin. He would not talk about anything except for medical stuff and sometimes his taste in music. (Jazz, surprisingly) And Irene would only complain about how useless he can be sometimes. The deadline for the first report was on New Year's Day. He still had some time left.

Perry shook these concerns out of his head and opened the door to the clinic. Nobody at the reception. Irene was upstairs, probably.

He heard her voice from another room, talking to someone. On the phone, maybe. Perry couldn't hear it and he didn't want to press his ear against the door because that'd be way too risky. The door opened a moment later and Irene peeked out with her head before the rest of her body followed. That's when she noticed the trainee. “Ah, Perry. Good timing. Or rather, bad timing.”

He raised an eyebrow. Was he in trouble? “Why, what's wrong?”

“I think you can guess what's wrong. Just come with me.”

For a moment, he really feared they found something out about him but when Irene rushed upstairs, it hit him.

Carl.

When they arrived, Perry immediately noticed the heart monitor still beep in a constant rhythm, but way slower than usual. Good, he was still alive.

Carl was almost completely tucked in, only his head out. The rings under his eyes were way darker, his skin paler, almost like glass. When his dull eyes noticed Perry and Irene, his face lit up a little.

Jin sat on the bedside, holding the patient's hand. That was very unusual for him. Then again, maybe, just maybe Jin had a heart. “They're here now, so Mira will come soon.” he said in a quiet yet strangely soft tone.

Irene checked the monitor before turning to them. “Julius told me he'll come along. She wouldn't get through this by herself.”

“Very good. Well, I have to admit I was wrong.” Jin fixed his glasses. “Carl, this may be the end, but you've been going strong for longer than I thought.”

“Hello? You know me, Doc.” Carl replied. Despite being on the verge of death, his sharp tongue was still there.

Perry went to the opposite bedside. “Does it hurt a lot?”

Carl turned his head to him, smiling a bit. “I'm alright, Perry…If I could, I even would've made you…a…” he paused, looking at his finger. He pointed to his wedding ring. He must've forgotten the term. Now Perry really wondered what kind of condition he had.

They all sat in silence for a while. It were probably ten minutes, if not even longer. Carl's breathing got worse, Jin shook his head, implying there was nothing they could do for him anymore. A while later, the bell rang.

“It's them. We have to hurry.” Jin got up hastily, helping his grandmother get up as well. “Perry, stay here.”

The two rushed downstairs. Perry noticed he's never been alone with Carl before, despite having worked here for two weeks already. He now gently took Carl's hand in his. “It's alright.” He said.

“Pastor, there's something I need to confess.”

His eyes widened. “Yes?”

“About…”

“Doctor Jin? Did he hurt you?” That was a stupid question to ask a dying person.

“What? No! It's…”

“Take your time, Carl.”

He was just opening his mouth when the door opened and Mira rushed in, her face wet with tears. Perry let go of his hand and got up, standing next to Julius, who was on the verge of tears. Mira ran to the bedside Jin stood before letting her inside and hugged her husband. Normally when she did, he'd weakly rub her back, but he did nothing.

Jin and Irene now entered the room again, standing next to Perry and Julius, patiently waiting.

Perry lost all track of time. They made sure to hold enough distance for privacy but stayed in the room in case an emergency should happen. He could hear Mira whisper something to Carl, but he didn't understand what she said. The beeping got slower and slower until it eventually stopped for a moment and the beeping then turned into one permanent sound.

He was dead.

Jin's voice made Perry realize it. “Time of death, 10:38AM.”

Mira now realized it as well and sobbed loudly, not letting go. Julius now went to her, crying with her and telling her it's alright. Perry felt a tear run down his cheek, he absolutely wasn't prepared for this, even if he thought he was. He saw many people die, after all. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Jin and Irene did seem to be a little sad, but only stood there, not even crying or trying to calm them down.

Jin instructed Irene something in Chinese, she nodded and rushed out of the room. Great. Chinese was one of the biggest problems. If he only understood them…

The doctor then placed his hand on Perry's shoulder and went outside with him. He looked at his face and his eyebrows went up when he noticed some tears on his it. “This is the first time you've handled death, am I correct?”

“N- Yes, sir. I'm sorry.” he lied, wiping the tears away with his sleeve.

“I know how it feels. But look, you did everything you could.” Jin paused. “...And you better be prepared for more to come.”

What? What did he mean by that?! Perry could only think of the worst. Was this a threat? It probably was. Yes, Jin was a doctor, but the way he said it, oh, he was planning to murder someone. Or even more than one person. What if he had something to do with Carl's death?

“Okay, calm down.” Perry said to himself.

To his dismay, he said it out loud. Jin heard it. “Excuse me?!”

“N-No, I was saying that to myself.” On one hand because these tears had to stop coming and on the other because he accidentally spiraled himself into too far-fetched thoughts.

“Ah. By the way, you know what to do, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“You're a pastor, Perry. You need to hold the funeral speech. The morticians handle the rest. Burial, casket, what do I know. But you need to hold the speech. We'll talk about everything tomorrow, though. I think it's best if you leave now, this must be hard for you.”

“A-Alright…”

Great. Perry had to hold a speech for someone he saw dying. This was going to be hard. He went up the hill, without greeting Candace, without stopping to have a small chat with Ozzie, without greeting the weird guy with white hair that sometimes came out of his house that was…wait, who even was that?! Perry was too tired to think about anything right now.

When he came home, he fell on his bed, the tears immediately coming back. Turning to lie on his back, he cried. A lot. How could one describe it, yes, like a baby. Nobody else lived here or around, he could cry his heart out. Perry shouldn't have gotten so attached to Carl, he shouldn't have accepted this mission, he shouldn't even have become a spy in the first place. To him, this was the price he had to pay for pretending everything.

Trying to get on other thoughts, he remembered that he didn't get to read the hidden church files yet. How unprofessional. He should get to it now. But he was so tired he couldn't get up.

“I'll take a nap and read them later…” Perry thought as he dozed off.

Waking up, he realized it was completely dark outside. The lanterns were already turned off. Perry tried to remember what he was dreaming but it seemed like he didn't dream anything at all this time. Strange. He sat up and looked at his alarm clock. 9PM. He slept for ten hours…

He sighed. Now his sleep schedule was ruined, too. Maybe it would be a good idea to take a walk. But if the lanterns were already off here, they were probably also off in town. It'd be a good idea to take a flashlight.

Perry grabbed his jacket and headed outside. It was still cold… “I hope the cat is okay.” He thought. Why didn't he let it inside?

Before starting his stroll, he turned the flashlight on and pointed it around the plaza to take a look at everything. It was strange that the lights were all out at this hour already.

He walked downhill and felt a bit relieved when he saw some buildings still having the lights on. Like the inn or the clinic. Maybe Perry could stop by and…No. He didn't want to get even more stressed now.

The sound of the waves was louder than usual. Maybe because it was late evening, so naturally it was quiet outside. A trip to the beach could be a good idea…

The lights at the fishery were off, but the building next to it…what kind of building was that again? Right, the bar. Gill advised Perry not to go there, but Luke, Bo and Owen kept talking about how cool the bar was. It wouldn't hurt to take a look.

He reluctantly opened the door, instinctively closing his eyes at the light. Not a lot of people were there.

A blonde woman at the counter noticed Perry stepping inside and waved. “Hey! Pastor Perry, right?” She knew about him, huh?

“Yes, that's me.” he replied, approaching the counter. “Sorry I didn't go here earlier, I-”

“Gill told you to not go here, didn't he?” A grumpy voice asked.

The blonde crossed her arms. “Chase…”

That was the guy Gill had a fight with earlier. He didn't care to turn to them, he was washing dishes in the corner of the counter. “What? I bet it's true.”

“It is.” Perry admitted, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

“Yeah, Gill is Gill. But hey, we're glad you didn't listen and came here, y'know? I'm Kathy, by the way!” Kathy grinned and shook Perry's hand. “My dad runs this place. He should be…”

The backdoor opened and a tall, buff guy that was bald, yet had a beard stepped out. When he noticed Perry, he gave him a suspicious look that turned into a sad frown a moment later. “Hey, welcome. I'm guessing you're Perry?”

“Yeah, I was just telling him you run this place.” Kathy explained, stepping away a little to give her father some space at the counter.

“Nice to meet you, Pastor. I'm Hayden.” he observed him for a second before continuing. “I'm guessing you're here because…?”

Perry gave a slight nod. Well, he didn't come here because he wanted to drink, he actually just wanted to take a look. And have some company. Today was the worst day he's had here yet, after all.

Chase now turned his head to their direction. “I completely forgot about that. That explains why Julius is here.”

“Why?” Kathy asked. “What's-”

Hayden vaguely gestured to one of the tables at the other side of the room. Perry hadn't noticed Julius being here. He rested his head on the table he was sitting at, probably asleep.

“Oh.”

Hayden nodded, taking a bottle of vodka out of the shelf. He poured it into a small glass and placed it in front of Perry. “It's on the house.”

“N-No, I don't-” Perry stared at the shot and then took it. “Well, one is alright.”

“Wait.” Hayden now handed Kathy and Chase one as well and took one himself. “If he was here, he'd take one with us. Cheers.”

“Cheers.” The others said in unison, drinking it up.

Perry didn't like alcohol to begin with, he never liked the taste. He grimaced slightly when this bitter feeling kicked in and placed his glass down.

“Oh, I thought drinking is off limits?” Chase asked Perry at that moment.

“Getting drunk is. And I won't. This was the first and last shot.” he corrected before getting his wallet out. Jin gave him his salary weekly for the first months so he could “survive the winter”. When Chase and Kathy gave Perry a weird look (they most likely thought he was joking), he blushed again. “Do you have herb tea, mayhaps?”

“We do! But don't worry, it's on the house again, okay?” Kathy gave him a soft smile and then started preparing the tea for him.

Perry looked over to Julius’s table. He must've been really exhausted. Why was he sitting there? Maybe he needed a drink but wanted to be alone and then fell asleep due to exhaustion…And what about Mira? Where was she now?

As he received his tea, he took a sip, feeling warmer again. Drinking tea always gave him comfort, he felt like he was back in London whenever he did.

He observed Chase placing the dishes he washed and dried inside the cupboards. He was frowning, probably because he was an overall grumpy person. When he noticed Perry staring, he frowned more but his purple eyes darted a little up. “Well, look who woke up.”

The person took a seat next to Perry, yawning. It was Julius. “Sorry I fell asleep.”

Kathy crossed her arms. “Hey, don't apologize.”

Julius gave her a weak smile and then turned to Perry. “So, you're here too, huh?”

“I wanted some company.” He replied quietly, trying his best not to mention anything about today.

“I guess we're alike, then! Me too.”

Perry took another sip of his tea and then wondered where Mira was again right now. “And Mira…?”

“She's staying at Barbara's place for some days. They're very close, so she's in good hands.” Julius reassured him. It was clear his cheerful attitude was just a façade right now.

“Julius, I…” he paused. Was this a good idea? “You don't have to…”

He wiped away a small tear that formed. “I know. It's…” The tears now started to come like a waterfall and Julius hastily got up and took a handkerchief from his pocket so his makeup wouldn't get too ruined. “Sorry–” He was going to sniff into it but sobbed and let it fall down before starting to cry again.

Kathy, Chase and Hayden all gave him a look that said “I know what you're going through.” But yet neither of them knew what to do.

Perry got up from his seat, he was really unsure about what to do so he just did the first thing that came to his mind and hugged Julius. Hugs always made him feel better, so maybe it could help him, too. He stopped crying for a moment and then wrapped his arms around the pastor's back, his sobs becoming more violent.

"COWABUNGA!" We're back!”

Everyone looked at the door. Luke, who was on Owen's back as well as Bo, Dale and Ramsey entered the bar. It took the five a moment until they realized what was going on, Owen placing Luke back on the ground.

Julius let go of Perry's embrace and wiped a tear away again. “Thank you, I really needed that.”

“Um, what's going on…?” Owen reluctantly asked, slowly approaching the bar. Nobody answered, so he looked down in shame and stopped, now standing on the dance floor. “Oh.”

Julius nodded weakly and sat back down. “Come on, join us.” he mumbled.

“Ahh, Hayden, I'll just buy an entire bottle for all of us, yeah?” Dale looked around in his wallet, placing some dollar bills on the counter.

Hayden looked at the money in front of him, not moving. “What would Carl do in this situation?”

“He'd drink with us, no doubt about it.” Ramsey answered immediately.

“True.”

Everyone was silent for a while again. Hayden opened the bottle and took a shotglass near him to pour it inside. “Carl rarely drank. If he did, it was on special occasions. And then…” he had to chuckle a bit. “It was like he wouldn't stop. But at least he knew his limits, somehow.”

“Do you guys remember Hamilton's 50th birthday party? Carl was the moderator.” Luke added.

Owen smiled. “I do, that was fun.”

“Or,” Julius took one of his rings off. “When he stayed up all night to make this ring for my birthday.”

“I still remember when I just moved here and got lost, he brought me back home.” Bo said, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Carl always said…” Dale was now resting his head on the counter, a hic interrupting him. “He…uh…said…Lorelei is very lucky to have me as her husband…Lorelei…”

“They're watching over us now, Dale.” Ramsey patted his back. “And Theresa is with them, too.” Glancing at Kathy and Hayden, he smiled. “And we can't forget Summer.”

“They had too much already.” Bo whispered to Perry.

“Why?” he whispered back. “They seem happy.”

“Just wait.”

Dale now started crying. “The best people always leave. Except for you, Luke. I'm glad you're still here. And Owen. And Bo, how can I forget you, my son?” he wrapped his arm around the blond’s shoulder, who was now starting to tear up.

“I'm gonna cry again because of you guys...” Julius looked up, waving some air into his eyes. But it didn't help and he started crying with them.

Luke and Owen, both about to pass out, joined them, and Ramsey as well.

“Really now…?” Chase rolled his eyes at the group.

Hayden, wiping some tears away, ruffled his hair. “You can let it all out, Chase. You too, Kathy.”

“Dad, I'm working, I–” Kathy stopped and teared up.

Chase gave her a weird look but joined her. Pretty much everyone in this room was crying. Perry already cried at home. He should be embarrassed and weirded out by everyone, but he knew they all went through a lot. After all, Dale, Hayden and Ramsey all lost their wives, Kathy and Luke their mom, Chase and Bo probably one or both of their parents, And now Julius his uncle…

But Perry didn't let a tear roll. Even though he wanted to.

Eventually, Ramsey noticed it was almost 3 AM so they all said goodbye.

“Come again, Perry.” Kathy waved, dried tears on her cheeks as he left.

Yes, he was definitely coming back soon.

“Is there anyone here who can't walk anymore?” Ramsey asked into the round. He was still relatively sober.

“Luke and Owen.” Bo replied, having his arms around both so they wouldn't fall down.

“Okay, we're all going to use the minecart, then.”

“It's going to break soon…” Dale yawned.

“That's the fastest option to come home now.”

The group went uphill and everyone waved Perry goodnight as they went downstairs to use the minecart. He watched them leave and went back inside.

The church in complete darkness was kind of scary. And Perry noticed he still wasn't quite tired. Maybe he could take another walk…? That'd make him tired enough to fall asleep. He even had an idea where to go.

He went back outside and waited for a while to make sure the Garmon Gang all made it home. So around ten minutes later, he walked downstairs. Right, the graveyard was here. Honestly a little creepy. Imagine you'd use the minecart from the mines to here and the first thing you see are a bunch of gravestones…

As Perry hopped into the cart, he was already a little used to the feeling. But taking a ride at night was another level of unsettling. Hopefully nobody was going to wake up from this.

“Where was the goddess pond…” All the lights were off so using a flashlight was off-limits. The only source of light was the moon right now, at least he was able to see thanks to it. The forest should be next to Dale's house and had a path that led to the goddess pond straight away if Perry remembered correctly…

When he found the forest, he kept walking until he was sure the houses were far away enough so he could turn the flashlight on. He did and immediately heard something rustle, a small animal, probably.

Perry stopped walking. Great, he forgot about the animals. There were definitely other, dangerous ones that would be a problem. But he could see the trees coming to an end so kept going to the pond.

Ruins…Why were they there? Who built them and why? These ruins must've been here way before the rest of the town was built.

“If the Harvest Goddess really lives here…” Perry looked around and flinched when he almost stepped into water. Right, this was a pond.

He set the flashlight to the lowest intensity and moved it around to see the area better. The pond was divided by a small stone path which had a small island at the end of it. Nothing else was on this island except for a tree.

Perry put the flashlight away, clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. “Harvest Goddess…”

“I’m sorry. I'm sorry for lying to everyone. For spying…For pretending I'm working for you when I'm not. I…”

This was a petty attempt at apologizing.

Perry sighed, apologizing a last time before wanting to turn back. But he heard steps.

In panic, he tried to find a spot to hide in and climbed over the lowest part of one of the ruin’s walls to lie down behind it.

Who was there? Or what? An animal? Jin? Someone living around here having noticed an intruder?

That someone was now on the path that led to the tree. Perry was too scared to look up to see who it was. The person seemingly walked over to the tree and stood there for a minute or two. Perry almost had to sneeze but squeezed his nose shut so he wouldn't.

The person now went back and stopped in the middle of the path to cough. Wait. That coughing sounded familiar. Hamilton?

But the person disappeared as fast as they came, so Perry didn't get to take a look. Maybe he was hallucinating, anyway. Maybe everything was a dream since he came back from work this morning. Or the entire day was…

Either way, Perry's eyelids were so heavy now he fell asleep on the spot he hid in. Hopefully he'd wake up in bed tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Perry woke up and felt cold. Very cold. And wet. He realized he really did sleep here at the goddess pond. And it snowed overnight. He was almost buried in the snow. 

So, this wasn't a dream. But what about that mysterious person from yesterday? Hamilton? He had no reason to go here in the middle of the night. But he was the mayor and Perry knew almost nothing about him, so…

If he'd get a cold, there was nothing he could do to prevent it anymore. He stopped thinking and just wanted to get back home and take a bath as soon as possible. So he got up and walked back home. The only good thing about the snow right now was that it made walking less noisy.

When Perry arrived at the main part of the district, he saw Bo carry some wood. It must've been early morning. He waited for the apprentice to get inside the building so he could use the minecart without anyone noticing.

Maybe he was just making things up, but the cart seemed to be slower than usual. 

Perry was so tired, he could've fallen asleep in it, but it seemed like he was right, the minecart was not only slower, but the sounds it made were as if it constantly stopped rolling or the tracks were rusty.

When he arrived at the church grounds, he jumped out of that cart as fast as he could. It was a bad idea to use it when there was snow everywhere. 

“Nobody is here. Good.” Perry quickly unlocked the church (And remembered he didn't lock it when he left) to get inside.

It was a little before six. Perry's shift at the clinic always began at nine. So he still had a while to catch up on some sleep. He was about to go to the bathroom when he found these hidden church files on the ground. And maybe he should call Bigbee to give an update that Carl died. Urgent updates were supposed to be made on the phone.

Perry looked in his backpack for a list of phone numbers. It was a weird process, he tapped on a number: “From four to eight AM” and went to the rotary phone on the windowsill to dial it.

“Hello, Flowerbud's Toolshop, this is Bill, how can I help you?” 

The way he was told, Perry understood it in a way that Bigbee gave a bunch of money to different people so that if agents called and said a specific phrase they'd redirect them to him so that it would be harder to track the calls down.

“Hello, um.” Perry's heart rate picked up. Hopefully this worked. “I'd like to know which flower seeds attract the most bees.”

He heard a sigh. “Sorry, Mister, we sell tools, not seeds. I'll direct you to a bee expert. Have a good day.”

“Bee expert” in this case was a code word for Bigbee. It worked. 

“Hello?”

“Mister B, this is…Perry.”

“Ahh, hello! I haven't heard from you in almost two weeks!”

The agent blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry, I've been busy. I'm also working on the report, maybe I'll even get to send it over before the year ends.” he cleared his throat. “Anyway, Carl Vargos died yesterday. In the clinic. And he was going to confess something to me, but it had nothing to do with the target. But I'm still not sure whether it was something useful.”

“Thank you for informing me about it! So, do you personally think the target had something to do with his death directly?”

“I don't know. Carl lived longer than Jin predicted. And…I didn't get to find out a lot of information about him, anyway. They speak Mandarin. When I hide behind a wall to hear them talk after my shift, they completely switch the language. I'm sorry.”

“Well, we don't have any people who are fluent in Mandarin here, sadly. So! I'll organize a solution for you, just wait!”

“Wait, I'm not getting replaced, right?”

Bigbee laughed boisterously. “Of course not! Just wait. Look, I have to hang up now. Cheerio and good luck!”

So there was that. And whatever the solution was going to be.

Perry now finally remembered to read these darn files. He grabbed one random paper he could find.

“I don't even remember which day it is, but the heat is coming, so it's somewhere around April. After Alan…well, I just want to leave.” 

The pastor blinked. This…whatever it was, blinked back. His hands clutched the next one he could find.

“October 18th, 1903. We went fishing today and I caught an enormous fish! I'm afraid I don't know what kind of fish it is.”

These files were some kind of diary, like it seemed. Or a report. It's been a while since they were written. “I should sort them,” Perry thought. 

But the expected happened and he heard someone knock on his door. Who could it be? Maybe someone telling Perry he broke the minecart? Hopefully not.

When he opened the door, already having multiple excuses for everything in his mind, he flinched a little. Gill?

“Good morning, Gill.”

“Good morning, Perry.” The blond was already perfectly dressed for the winter. A grey jacket, a big scarf and…green earwarmers. “I was…going to stop by.”

“Do you want to come in?” Perry asked, smiling.

“Mm-mm. I was gonna, but…” His eyes that matched the temperature went up and down. “Someone told me what you were up to yesterday.”

He tensed up. So it really was Hamilton, after all. But how did he notice Perry when he was hiding behind the ruins? Why didn't he say anything? “I'm sorry, I–”

“Tch. I'm honestly disappointed. A pastor at the bar?” Right, Gill told him not to go there in the beginning. “But who am I to tell you. I just wanted to say I'm disappointed.”

“Who even told you?” Perry now asked in confusion.

Gill huffed. “I overheard Hayden talking about you. Oh, not in a bad way, of course. He said he was surprised you showed up.” he wanted to run his hand through his hair, but he paused when he noticed he held a cupcake behind his back all along.

Trying to shift the topic, Perry looked at the cupcake. The cake brown, the frosting pink. Chocolate-strawberry, maybe? “Who's that for?”

“T-This? I–” The mayor's son huffed, looking away. “I-I was going to…eat it. But I'm not hungry anymore. Here.” he shoved it into the other's hand. “I have to go. See you later.” And then he rushed away.

Perry stared at the cupcake for a moment. He knew Gill's explanation was a lie, but he couldn't guess what his original intention with it was. “Good, at least I have something to eat now.” he said to himself, but then needed another answer. “Wait, Gill!”

The blond stopped running just before he was at the stairs. “What is it?” He shouted back.

“Did your father go out of the house tonight?”

“No?”

“Really? Well, okay then. Thank you for the cupcake, though!” Perry went back inside the church. His top priority right now was putting these documents in the correct order. 

So all he knew right now was that over a hundred years ago, someone wrote a log, most likely about activities on this island and something happened to someone named Alan? Perry took another piece of paper, placing the cupcake on the nightstand. He was way too focused to eat it now.

“January 4th, 1904. I'm so angry. All Darren does is sleep. And when he's not sleeping, he's just fat. I think I won't let Darren eat anything until he actually helps us. He can starve. Why did he even come along if he ends up being such a hassle.”

Okay, rude. 

“September 30th, 1903. We were talking to the pastor and he doesn't know the purpose, either. We will have to figure it out. That's why we're here in the first place, Ben said. It will be an adventure, he said.”

The papers weren't big, but it was quite a waste to only write a few lines and then start a new page for every entry, no?

Eventually, he would have to go and sort them, but Perry needed some company right now. And maybe he should eat the cupcake Gill gave him, it was fresh. Going to work a little earlier wouldn't be a problem.

When he stood at the clinic door, he could hear Irene and Jin talk. In Mandarin. And he didn't even have his recorder with him. 

Perry just decided to knock on the door and the talking stopped. After a pause, it opened. Jin.

“You're here early,” he remarked, “Are you okay, Perry?”

“Hmm? Yes.” The trainee smiled, ate a bite of his cupcake (it tasted good, he hadn't noticed the small freeze-dried raspberries in the frosting) and stepped inside. “I just needed some company so I'll start my shift earlier.”

The doctor eyed the cupcake, his eyebrows going up and his glasses almost falling off his nose. “You got one?”

“What?”

“Who's the lucky person?”

“I don't understand what you're talking about.”

Jin stifled a laugh and now pulled his glasses up. “Who gave you that cupcake?”

Perry looked at it for a moment. “Gill.”

“Gill?”

“Er, he told me he was gonna eat it but he wasn't hungry anymore.”

The doctor now started laughing. Leaving Perry look at him as if he just admitted to being a war-criminal or something. “It's Thanksgiving today! Well, another kind of Thanksgiving. Kind of like Valentine's Day. Huh, I haven't gotten anything yet. I wouldn't want to eat anything sweet, anyway.” A slight bitterness in his voice was the evidence he actually would.

Irene’s head popped up from the examination room. “You don't necessarily have to give food to someone you have romantic feelings for, anyone works. I saw Maya give them out to multiple people today when I looked out of the window.”

“Yes, it would be weird. I don't spend enough time with Gill for him to…” Perry finished the cupcake. “You know. By the way, I talked to Julius yesterday. I met him at the bar.”

“You went to the bar?” Jin and Irene asked at the same time.

“I apologize, I–”

“It's alright.” The doctor assured him. “I just did not expect you to go there. I'm guessing Julius went there to drink? A lot?”

“Later, when more people showed up, but not that much. He also told me Mira is staying at Barbara's for a bit.”

“I know. Can you hold this for a second?” Jin handed Perry a small box. “Carl's funeral is next Sunday.”

“Excellent. And what's with this box?”

“Just some medications we ordered.”

When Perry finished his shift shortly before six (surprisingly, nothing special happened despite it being some kind of holiday) his plan was to head straight back to the church. When he was about to head uphill, he heard someone call him.

“Hey, Perry?”

He turned around. “Yes?”

It was already dark, so he couldn't see who it was at first. The person approached him and then he recognized her. Anissa. Holding a basket.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

He smiled, maybe a little too much, until he noticed she held a muffin in her hand.

“Is it for me?” he asked quietly.

Anissa nodded. “Today is Thanksgiving, so I wanted to give you something! It's a vegetable muffin made with ingredients from my parents’ farm.”

He took the muffin from her and felt a blush creeping up. “Steady on, she probably gives them to everyone…”

“Thank you very much. I have to admit I was getting a little hungry.” Perry took a bite, it tasted good, even better than the cupcake Gill gave him. “I like foods like this. A-And, if I knew that people give out treats today, I would've given you something, too.” he was too much. Too nice? Desperate?

She laughed. Did she laugh at him? “I'm glad. You better remember it next year! I'll look forward to what it'll be.”

“So do I…”

“Great! Well then, I've got to go now. See you around, Perry!”

“Cheerio, Anissa!” 

He followed her with his gaze. Wasn't it unsafe to walk around in the dark? As far as Perry knew, it was a long way to Flute Fields.

She gave him a muffin…

“If I could, I'd never eat you and keep you in a box.” Perry said to it, taking another bite. “That was strange. I'll never say that again.”

At that moment, he could see Anissa enter the clinic.

Great, she was going to give muffins to Irene and Jin, wasn't she…

Perry shrugged it off, trying to not feel a bit jealous and went home. At least he got more treats than Jin today.

Chapter Text

“Package for Perry Angeles!”

Rushing to the door and opening it, he was greeted by a man, who held a package in his hand. 

“Oh, hello, you're Perry, right? I'm Simon, I own a photo booth next to the town hall. And you know my daughter, Phoebe.”

“Yes, I know her. Nice to meet you. Thank you for the package!” he took the package from him, wondering who it was from. The sender's name was “Benjamin Big”.

Bigbee, who else. To seem less suspicious (Though, why would he?) Perry gave a too exaggerated smile. “Oh, that's from my friend, Ben! Um, how come a photo booth owner brings out packages?”

“Well, we have no post office here and both, Gill and Hamilton are quite busy, so my shop's the alternative!” Simon didn't seem to be suspicious of anything, so no worries. “I'll get going now! Other stuff to deliver. Bye!”

The pastor waved him. “Cheerio!” he watched Simon until he was gone and then rushed inside his room to unbox whatever was going to be inside the package.

A book.

Perry lifted it up, squinting his eyes. It had a lot of pages and wasn't a paperback. 

“Learn Mandarin: From absolute beginner to native speaker in no time.”

He looked up. 

“Really?”

The following day was Carl's funeral, so Perry had to actually plan an eulogy for this Sunday. Yes, he did feel really bad that he thought about it like that, especially since being alone at the church most of the time made him feel very lonely.

Mira showed up a little earlier to have some company. She didn't want to be at home now because Carl's relatives showed up and they weren't exactly nice. 

“Are you feeling alright, Mira?” Perry asked her as she went up to him.

“I'm feeling okay.” she sniffed. “I have something for you.” Then, she brought out a blue flower. “The plants Ethel used to keep here were all removed when she died, so I thought it'd be a good idea…As a thank you.”

He gladly took the small pot, carefully holding it.“That's very sweet, I don't know what to say.” Carl said he'd make something for Perry sometime, but that obviously wasn't possible anymore, so the pastor felt sad again. “I'll place it on the windowsill.”

After coming home yesterday, Perry started learning as much Mandarin as he could that evening. But he had to go to bed early, he forgot everything except for “Ni hao”. At least he was a fast learner, Perry learned French and German in school as well as Spanish and Russian while training to become a spy. Then again, Mandarin was completely different.

Perry looked at the clock. He should do something to calm down. “We still have some time. Fancy a cuppa?”

“What?” Right, maybe he shouldn't be too British in front of others here.

“Tea?”

“Ah, yes.” Mira smiled. “I'll take anything.”

“I only have herbal tea here.” The pastor admitted, opening the cupboard to take two cups and teabags and turning the kettle on. 

While Mira waited for the water to boil, she sat down on one of the benches. “Thanks for having me over.” she mumbled, perking up a bit in surprise.

“What is it?”

“I sat on something.” she turned to see what it was. “A book? Mandarin…Did somebody forget it here?”

Oh no.

Well, there was nothing suspicious about learning Mandarin, though…

“We should give it back to–”

“It's mine.”

Mira looked at him. A little too long. Her expression a little too hard to read. This no thoughts, head empty stare.

And then she started laughing.

Perry’s face heated up. “I don't understand what's so funny.” 

“It's just…” Mira handed him his book. “Mandarin? That's a little hard.”

“It's alright, I love learning new languages.” he was still embarrassed, putting the book away, but just before he turned back to her…

Did she just laugh?

Yes, she did! So it was okay. Perry smiled now, too.

“The tea is ready.” he remarked, giving her a cup and sitting down next to her. He quickly glanced at the clock again. “Let’s not take too long. The funeral is going to start soon.”

“I think I'm ready.” Mira whispered, taking a sip. “As in I'll cry but won't have a full-blown panic attack that ruins everything.”

She really didn't take his death well, obviously. Perry didn't know what to say. It would be completely okay if she was going to cry more at the funeral…

As expected, the church was overcrowded. Probably the entire island of Castanet was in here right now. There weren't enough benches, so some people stood around them. And Perry was nervous. Speaking in front of people wouldn't be a problem, but this…?

Perry took a deep breath. “I got this, I practiced.”

“Thank you all for joining us today.” he began. “We all know why we're…Recently, Carl Vargos has left us. It was clear this moment was going to come, still, it was so unexpected…”

The rest of the speech went relatively well, Perry basically talked about Carl's biography and about how and why he opened his accessory shop. One thing in particular caught the pastor's attention at the material Julius gave him for the eulogy. The reason why he chose castanet.

“Very close to the Harvest King.”

This was meant in a religious way, most likely, but Perry couldn't help but wonder now. Yes, Sephistics acknowledged the Harvest King as well, he supposedly lived on top of the mountains. Maybe that had an impact on the ores?

Julius then also held a small speech about how thankful he was for Carl and his deeds and promising he'd look after Mira from now on. After that, it was time for the guests to say goodbye to Carl for the last time, but Perry didn't want to take a look at the casket, so he didn't. Not that anyone cared, noticed or minded, anyway.

When the casket was buried, most of the guests left to have dinner together, while others went home. Perry remained inside the church, but said everyone goodbye.

He was about to go inside again when he saw someone stand next to the door. “Oh, Candace! You startled me.” 

“Excuse me. I was just waiting for a moment.” she explained. “Luna leaves for a while today, so we're going to spend some time together.”

“Why is that? I mean, why is she leaving?”

“She just finished her master's degree in fashion design, but she still has to deal with some things there.”

“I see.” Luna honestly looked way younger than she was, maybe it was because of her being so short. If Perry had to guess, he'd say she was 17, not 23…

In that moment, the younger sister arrived. “Hey, Candace! How was the funeral?”

She shrugged. “It was sad.”

“Duh.” Luna glanced over at Perry and then registered he was standing there. “Hi, Percy!”

“His name is Perry, Luna.”

“Hi, Perry!” Luna grinned a bit. “Sorry, I forgot. Thanks for waiting here for me with my sister. I'm not even sure why she attended Carl's funeral, Julius is the worst.”

“Luna!”

Maybe she was just saying that, but then again, Shelly wasn't here, either. Was there really something? Even Luke mentioned he's mean once. But Perry was not going to inquire any further, obviously.

“Well then, let's go.” Candace hooked her arm around her sister's and waved Perry goodbye. “See you soon.”

“See you sometime next year!” Luna called as they left.

The pastor waved them until he couldn't see them anymore and then finally went inside. Today was a hassle…

“What's next…” Perry accessed his mental to-do list. Oh, right. Study some Mandarin…(As that was going to help.)

Chapter Text

Winter was definitely coming now, it was late afternoon and already dark outside. Perry spent his shift in the hospital preparing and giving out healthy diet kits to everyone who'd visit for some reason. They had basic stuff in them. Apples, granola bars, water, milk, a veggie sandwich...Well, it was fun, though. Hamilton and Jake organized it together.

Perry's mind wandered back to work. To his actual work. Being a spy...

"Hey, Perry?"

"Yes?" In a reflexive manner, Perry put on a smile and turned to the person who tapped his shoulder. It faltered for a moment when he saw it was Gill.

"Look, I..." The blond ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry for earlier. I guess I am bitter and all that, but if you knew..." he tensed up. "Whatever! Do you accept my apology?"

Perry sighed but... he was never mad at him in the first place. After all, Gill gave him a cupcake, and...yes, he was a bit bossy, but hey, at least he was also kind. "Why, yes, of course! But there wasn't anything to apologize for."

Gill gave a weak smile before clearing his throat. "Actually, I've been wanting to ask you something else. Do you know about the farmhouse?"

Farmhouse...Bo mentioned something about it once. "I heard about it. Why?"

"I'm going to prepare it tomorrow, we'll have a newcomer soon." Gill's hand traveled to his jacket, where he pulled out a small note. "Ah, yes. Maria Hernandez. Told me over the phone that she prefers Molly. The house is alright, it just needs a bit of preparation, and I thought maybe it'd be nice to have some company."

That Gill chose him was flattering. But most people around their age weren't too fond of the mayor's son, Perry was maybe even the only one who..."Yes, I'll join you. It's very thoughtful of you to prepare the house for her."

"More or less. My father ordered me to- Y'know. Whatever. I'll pick you up tomorrow. Bye." Gill flipped his hair in a too dramatic manner (a bit like Julius) and walked away.

Perry watched him leave. Strange guy. But also way kinder than he thought.

What he now had to focus on, was his mental to-do list.

"Finish this bloody report..."

The next day, as Perry left the clinic, he rushed to the church to meet up with Gill there. He was late... he was supposed to be at home an hour already, so Gill must've been waiting.

And as expected, the blond leaned against the church building. When he saw the pastor run up to him, he sighed, looking at his watch. "26 minutes too late."

"Sorry about that!" Perry caught his breath. "We were measuring Shelly's blood pressure, but the...sypho...spyro...what was that-"

"Sphygomomanometer?"

The pastor snapped with his fingers. "Yes! Exactly! It broke, so we had to improvise somehow."

Gill already started walking, expecting the other one to follow him. "And? Healthy?"

"For her age, yes." he noticed they weren't using the minecart, but that would make the way shorter. "Why are we taking the long way?"

Gill cringed. "I am not riding that thing."

"Alright. Was starting to break, anyway."

The two men made their way to the farmhouse. Not talking while in town was alright for Perry, Gill was busy greeting the others, anyway. Except for Chase, when the cook brought out the trash, Gill grabbed Perry's wrist so they'd get away from him as fast as possible, for some reason...

"I've been wondering..." Perry spoke up, "N-Not about Chase, about...Who is that bloke who's wearing a hood?"

"Ah." Gill paused a moment before he continued, because he thought he stepped into something. "Well, that's the wizard. No idea who he is or why he's even here. Makes me wonder why that Molly girl wants to move here. I'm even wondering why YOU'RE here."

Perry knew, but he couldn't tell the truth, of course. "I like quiet places."

"England...I miss this place. I think I'm gonna stop by again soon."

The way to the farm plot was shorter than expected. The house looked different from the ones in town, Perry guessed it wasn't built too long ago.

"Hey, I expected something worse."

"Of course you did." Gill took a key and unlocked the door. When they stepped inside, it was dark and smelled like dust.

Perry couldn't see anything, but at least Gill had a flashlight. He walked forward as if he knew this place and opened the curtains. Instinctively, Perry closed his eyes shut, since he expected a flood of light to enter the room, but then again, it was Winter. And evening, too.

"This place has been abandoned for years, I don't even know who lived here before." Gill explained, finding a broom from somewhere. "We can be glad that we just have to do a bit of cleaning. Ramsey was here earlier to check for rats or insects, he found none."

He handed Perry another broom, so he obliged and started to sweep through the place. The dust was a bit too much, though, so he had to cough. Gill sighed, but opened the window for him.

The pastor looked out of the window for a moment. "I have to say, this house is quite lovely." He was used to and completely fine with lower standards, so he actually could imagine living here.

At that, the mayor's son stopped sweeping. "Not really..." he let out a scoff. "Now, I completely forgot there's a light switch here."

A moment later, the lights went on.

Now, Perry could see the house easier, it was still lovely for him. Maybe a bit old. This house had one room only, the bed and kitchen were almost next to each other, for example.

"And?" Gill spoke up after a moment, "How's life treating you here?"

It was way, way more relaxing here on Castanet than in London. Well, duh. But honestly, the spy found it nice. He could live here forever, maybe even continue doing the same jobs he was working as right now. He already knew he was going to miss this as soon as the mission was over...

"It's great," he replied. "The people here are all very earnest. And everyone knows each other, they even care for you!"

The blond ran his hand through his hair, then started to clean up the kitchen aisle. "Well, it depends on the person. Candace, for example, is really nice. Irene and Jin ACT like they care for you, but..." he slapped his hand on his mouth. "Don't tell them."

"Of course I won't, I do get along with them, but they really are unapproachable." And for Perry, this was a huge disadvantage.

"Well..." Gill bent down to pick something up. Deriving from the clank it made when it fell, it was a spoon or a fork. "I'm not sure if I can tell you, but Jin had a wife. But she was murdered."

Perry was about to say that he knew, but that would be a huge mistake. He didn't respond for a moment, to act like it genuinely shocked him and to come up with something to say. "Wait, what? Here on Castanet?"

"N-No! Of course not! This island is crime free." The mayor's son huffed, crossing his arms. "In London. They were there for a while last year. Nobody knows who-"

And of course, a knock had to interrupt them.

Gill pressed his finger to his mouth to indicate Perry to not talk about it anymore and went to open the door. "Oh, you guys?"

"Why are you so disappointed?" an unknown man asked him, laughing.

"No, I'm just...perplexed. All of you?"

"Well, Anissa and I saw the lights were still on and we remembered that you said something about preparing this house, so we all decided to help!" a person, Perry couldn't tell whether they were male or female for a moment, stepped inside, smiling. "Oh, and you are?"

Anissa stepped up, smiling as well. "That's Perry! Our new pastor."

Perry already felt his face getting hot, but he tried to keep his cool. Anissa, her friend, Taylor and four middle aged people, probably their respective parents, were now all inside the house. "Y-Yes, my name is Perry Angeles. Nice to meet you."

"Yes, he's a friend of mine." Gill now told them, patting the pastor's shoulder. He considered him as his friend, Perry certainly did not expect that. But he found it nice.

"I'm Renee!" So it was a girl. "My parents, Cain and Hanna, and I run horn ranch down at flute fields!"

Anissa's and Taylor's parents, Craig and Ruth, ran Marimba Farm, which was right next to Horn Ranch.

"I was dragged here," Craig complained, to which his wife pinched his cheek.

"Because you don't do anything around the house anymore!"

"I'm getting old!"

"YOU'RE ONLY 47!"

"THAT'S OLD ENOUGH TO RETIRE!"

Anissa rolled her eyes at them while Taylor scoffed.

Perry noticed Cain and Hanna already taking a look at the house's inventory.

Hanna opened a shelf, closing it a moment after realizing it's empty. "Is she going to be a farmer or a rancher?"

"Is there even a difference?" Perry caught himself asking out loud.

"There is, yes! Ranchers focus more on livestock, for example." Cain explained without judgement. At least no visible judgement... "One of our cows gave birth recently, so it would be perfect if we could pass one of the calves down to Molly. For free, even!"

"That's a good idea, Dad." Renee cheered.

The group was soon done with cleaning, so they went outside and Gill locked the door.

"She'll move in around the first week of the new year." The mayor's son declared. "Shall we head home?"

"Of course." Perry turned to the people from Flute Fields, waving them. "Bye, everyone, it was nice meeting you!" he made a mental note to himself to come over to that place and visit them soon. Not only because of Anissa.

The two men then made their way back to town. "That was nice, wasn't it?" The pastor asked in a cheery tone. Gill didn't reply, his arms were crossed and he seemed to think about something...

"When she'll arrive, I'm already away."

"What was that?"

"Oh, I was just rambling."

Gill did mention wanting to visit the UK again soon, maybe he meant something about that? Well, that didn't matter right now.