Chapter XVII: All
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBh8B57Agyg
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfyoPUb5tL
+++
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFYIdzhnvH
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBW2Khsz3V8
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4TkcjyNF4
Later that night, sometime after eight, Fidèle sat cross-legged on the curb behind her hotel.
She tugged her coat sleeve over her right hand and dragged it over her flushed face, unintentionally smearing inky mascara and shimmering, gold-brown eyeshadow and pasty foundation across her face.
She inhaled shakily and sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeves again.
The backdoor of the hotel swung open.
“Ma’am?”
A woman’s voice called in a thick English accent.
“Are you alri-”
Fidèle cut her off, turning her face away and wiping her sleeve frantically over it.
“Y-Yup! P-Perfectly fine! Just… allergies!”9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcO95AJMuR8
She interrupted, waving the woman off with her spare hand.
The woman blinked for a moment.
“Alrigh’.”
She replied, walking back inside and closing the door behind her.
There was the sudden sharp clicking of the heels of shoes on the cobblestones.
“Oh dear! I can’t believe you just lied to her! I know you don’t have allergies!”
A voice scolded, gesturing with what she could only guess was a hat of sorts.
She wiped her face again, sniffled and looked up.
“Poète?! “
She blinked for a moment before narrowing her eyes.
“...Why are you here?”
She grumbled.
“Because I heard miserable whimpering and your voice lying to hotel staff!”
Vide crossed her arms beside him, muttering to herself.
“I knew we should’ve stayed home.”
Personne picked up a twig and started chasing after a rat with a small piece of cake in its mouth.
“Vide. Be kind.”
Poète said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Personne be careful-”
A loud crash echoed in his ears.
“...Oh dear.”
“Oh goodnesses! Boxes!”
Personne trilled from about twenty feet away.
Fidèle gasped sharply and buried her face in her hands, salty tears streaming down her face again.
“P-Poète! Will s-stop that?!”9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dwV5Puw3w
Personne froze and went quiet.
“Oh dear. Stop what?”
Poète replied, cocking his head a few degrees.
“Stop t-talking to… to those… things!”
He placed his hat back on his head.
“Aren’t you kind?”
He growled.
“How do you live like this?!”
She hissed, peering up at him through her fingers with swollen eyes.
“I’ll survive.”
He muttered, smoothing his coat.
“Somehow I always do.”
He snarled, turning away from her.
Vide’s eyes went wide and she backed away to look for Personne.
“You’re… d-delirious.”
She stammered out, her voice quivering, holding back a breathy sob.
“They all were, Poe.”
She gasped into her palms.
His eyes flicked over to her, his pupils dilating and contracting with something between fear and pity.
“....All…?”
He wheezed, his voice cracking, his face going white and then purple.
She nodded and sniffled again.
A wide, rigid smile reluctantly spread across his face.
“I-I’m not delirious.”
He hissed through his teeth.
Fidèle stopped crying, smoothed her skirt and stood up.
“Then touch them.”
She growled hoarsely.
Poète felt like her eyes were burning a hole in the back of his head as he let out a husky chuckle that cracked as it left his throat.
“That won’t be necessary.”
He replied.
She sighed in exasperation and stood her ground, lifting her chin slowly even though her voice cracked.
“It’s for your own good, Poète.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her.
“Don’t make me say I told you so.”
Personne bounced around the corner with Vide following behind him with a slightly annoyed expression.
“Oh goodnesses! What’re we doing?”
He chirped, clapping his hands together as he glanced around.
Poète reached out and placed his hand on Personne’s narrow shoulder.
Personne’s eyes widened and he chuckled, sucking in a sharp, quivering inhale.
“O-Oh goodness.”
Suddenly, Personne’s body turned in on itself and crumbled into a pile of black sand and then disappeared.
“PERSONNE!”
Vide screamed, covering her mouth with her hands as she stared at the air Personne disappeared into with wide, glassy eyes.
“....P-Personne?”
Poète gasped in disbelief.
“Oh my God! What in the name of all that is holy is wrong with you?!”
Vide shouted, her head snapping towards Poète, tears trickling down from her black, doll-like eyes.
Poète’s nose pricked, his eyes stinging.
“O-Oh d-d-dear…”
He whimpered.
“Now the other one.”
Fidèle said, her voice blaring in Poète’s ears.
He whipped around to face her, his hat tumbling off his head and into the mud.
“Please n-no.”
Fidèle looked away.
“Just do it, Poète. It’s for your own good.”
“I-I can’t!”
“Poète. Please.”
Poète swallowed and wiped his arm across his face, turning to face Vide.
“I’m sorry, Vide.”
Vide’s eyes went wide as she let out a static-like laugh.
“Poe- Poe, let’s think this through! Alright?”
She stammered, backing away.
He started walking closer.
“Vide-”9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUFhHoyyhi
She stumbled over a bucket, toppling backward onto her back.
“Poète, please! Let’s be logical!”
She yelped.
“I stayed! Remember?”
She tapped her chest as she pressed her back against the wall of the next building.
“Vide-”
She pushed herself up, pressing herself against the wall, her chest heaving.
“Please give me a second thought!”
She cried.
“Vide… I’m so sorry.”
Poète whispered, his voice cracking as he tapped her.
Vide wrapped her icy cold fingers around his wrist as his finger tip pressed against her shirt fabric.
Her face drained of the little color it had as her body went rigid.
“Indeed, Petit Shakespeare.”
She managed to gasp before crumbling just as Personne had.
Poète’s knees buckled as he grasped hopelessly at the air.
“Why did you have to do that?”
He managed to choke out, glancing slightly at Fidèle standing over him.
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4Z3bTOc4U
and then Add to home screen.