My Servant Is An Elf Knight From Another World

Lyn was a good horse. I liked her too, but a missing animal didn't seem like something that any precinct would tack on to their most wanted list.

I told Leon my thoughts, and surprisingly, he was more aware of it than I thought.

"I went to animal services to get their  help finding her, got some friends on board with the search… it was actually my Dad's idea to report it also to the authorities."

"Oh, your dad, right," I said, pulling a blank look. "The beard guy, right? Deep voice, right? The one that for some reason speaks like a James Bond villain, right?"

"Right," Leon started looking at me weirdly. "Dude, how do you know so much about dad?"

Who? You mean that cane-holding, limp-walking pain in my ass for like a fair few months living here? Absolutely no idea, maybe I read about him in a magazine somewhere, who knows, really?

Come to think of it, he hasn't yet stopped by my place to ask about that car he loaned us during the whole Blight fiasco… boy, am I looking forward to that conversation.

Anyway, after Leon finished filling out his report sheet, he proclaimed he needed to be off in time for his fencing lessons, but not before we traded numbers with each other. I figured the least I could do was pitch in with the search effort, as little help I may be.

Then once he left, it was my turn to enlist the aid of the reception desk. It took a couple few tries to pry the guy away from his crossword puzzles, and he wasn't exactly pleased to be interrupted, even less so, after hearing out the exact reason for my intrusion.

"Detective Irene is currently busy at the moment," He said, scribbling a word across with the shortest, bluntest pencil ever. "If you wish to report anything, I'd be more than glad to pass along the message, or refer you to our other detectives."

Why was trying to keep in touch with this woman like trying to send a message to the otherside of the world with nothing but a paper airplane? I'd have better luck getting answers from a brick wall at this rate, goddamn.

I tried explaining to the kindly crossword gentleman that it was vital I meet with her, but doing so without arousing suspicion while also giving no detail proved harder than I thought, so I withdrew for the time being and returned to the twin sisters to discuss our next strategy - which ended up also being a pretty bad idea.

"You are soft, weak, spineless," Amelia spat like poison. "Where are your demands? Let them grovel before you! Make them submit! You did not once raise your voice, how are they ever to heed you if all they would hear is cowardice?" 

"You know there's a thing called being civilized, right?" I said. "Do you vampires not have that? Maybe that's your problem - maybe if you'd kindly ask for blood instead of outright taking it by force, people wouldn't be so keen on seeing you dead." 

Contemptuously, she pointed her nose into the air. "You speak to me of kindness, and yet your own kind sparks conflict even amongst themself. Tell me where is the kindness in that?"

Wasn't here to freaking debate about the failures of humanity, I came for Irene… and one way or another, I was gonna get to her. I tried her phone again, letting it ring for as long as I could, until beside us - the double doors swung upon once more. 

I didn't recognize him at first, but I did instantly recognize that sense of authority exuding off of him. Tall and lean, weathered and wise, the police commissioner marched in, stars and medals adorned, glittering every inch of his uniform.

His hawk-eyed eyes saw me the instant I saw him too, and we traded reactions - I, in a surprise, him unfurrowing his practiced stern gaze in utter delight, and when it came to greetings, he beat me to the punch.

"Well, well," He cheerily proclaimed, wagging a finger at me. "If it isn't… whatever your name was! What a pleasure to see you again! So long as you aren't here for the wrong reasons, at least. Are you now, son?"

A stroke of good luck, what timing! If anybody was going to get me through the crossword guardian, it was this guy, oh I love this guy.

"No, no, of course not," I responded, approaching close with a polite smile. "Actually I'm here to see Irene. She hasn't been responding to me for some time, so… I just wanted to check up on her if that's alright."

"Not responding to you?" He cocked his gaze sideways. "Trouble in paradise, huh?"

"Oh no, no, 'course not," I said, waving it away, then abruptly stopped. "Um, at least, I hope not."

He swelled his chest with a breath, arms crossed and lips pursed. "Normally, social calls aren't things detectives like her usually entertain on-duty, and I'm particularly uptight in showcasing the right example."

I could see the predetermined route his words were taking, the way he was speaking, I was bracing myself for that "no" already.

But then, with another smile forming, his words suddenly took an unexpected detour. "That being said, now's usually lunchtime. Safe to say, she oughta be on off-duty… perhaps she should be. Let me have a look around for her, why don't you wait in her office?"

And that's how my little posse ended up in a quiet, empty room. Irene's office was surprisingly drab, barren of personality, identity, nothing from the bits and pieces on her desk to the odds and ends hanging on the walls signified her in any way.

Out of respect, I kept my hands to myself and didn't poke and pry into anything, instead like Adalia, I sat myself down quiet and proper. Amelia, on the other hand, hadn't the sense to do the same.

Anything she could her itchy claws on, she'd thoroughly snoop, sliding drawers, and swinging cabinets, seriously…

"Could you not?" I said, deciding that her taking a certificate off the wall was a toe too far out of line. 

"Make me," She challenged, taking down another plaque.

Trust me, I was just about ready to, but then I felt a light tap on my arm, and when I turned, Adalia was staring back.

"Question…" She muttered softly. "Do you have… a favorite… hobby…?"

It took a couple of blinks for me to process what she said, and even then, I still wasn't all sure I heard her right.

"My favorite hobby?" I repeated back.

She nodded her head, and that just further deepened my bemusement.

"Why?"

"Because… I don't know…" She replied. "I… want to know…"

There were so many more things I could have asked. That's what happens when something random comes out of left field, but in the end, I decided better to just simply indulge her.

"Swimming," I told her. "Back at home, well - my old home, we had a small lake nearby. Not too deep, not too shallow. Every other day, I'd go there and take a few laps around… y'know, just to relax. Sometimes Sammy would come with, but most of the time, it's just me."

"I... see…" She shifted her gaze slightly. "Do you… still swim…?"

"Not many good lakes in the city, unfortunately," I said.

"Do you miss…. swimming…?"

"I suppose."

"Do you... want to go… swimming…?"

Once more, I felt as if I wasn't hearing her words right again.

"After… wards..." She continued, centering her eyes back towards me again. "I want to go… swimming…"

"You? You want to go swimming?" I scrunched my brows. "Do vampires even swim?"

"No…" 

"Have you ever swam before?"

A slight, stiff pause. "No…"

"Then why do you…?"

"I can… learn…" She said, a rousing resolve stirring in her wistful tone. "You can… teach me…"

"Teach you?" I felt like a parrot here. "Okay, wait, first off… Adalia, where is this coming from? Is this why you wanted to follow along with me today?"

"You… do things with Ash…" She said slowly. "With Amanda… your sister… Sera… Irene… you do many things with them… many, many fun things…" Her voice then went quieter than usual. "But not… with me…"

There was something to her words, a peculiar inflection that got my ears perking. Call me conceited, but I think Adalia sounded envious.

"Only one thing… we played a quiz… game… it was fun… I enjoyed… but it was only… one… the only one..." She batted her misty eyes up at me. "Why…?"

"Er, well…" I wasn't sure how to respond. "That's because - "

"I want to do... more fun things…" She said. "I want to do them… with you too…"

"Yeah, but…" I stammered, a little flustered, very much lost. "Swimming?"

Adalia leaned in. "You like swimming… right…?"

"I do, but that doesn't mean you have to - "

"Then I... like it too…" She interjected again. "I will… like it too…" 

There's just no dissuading this girl is there? I had other hobbies too, ones that didn't involve being under the sun, but… she did tell me not to do that, didn't she? To not treat her different.

"Alright, we'll go swimming," I finally relented. "But only after, alright? After. Wanna get to the bottom of this first."

"Okay…" She said, turning away, nodding diligently. "It's a… date… then..."

A date, huh? Must have gotten that phrase from Tyler when he said it. She probably doesn't even know what it means.

Or, uh… does she?

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