"All right, I'll start looking into it," said a detective before getting into his taxi and leaving me alone with a girl my own age; we watched as the car gradually disappeared from view.
"So, what do you think of that man?" I was curious to hear the opinion of this girl called Snow. She seemed startled and a little nervous to answer—she was silent for quite a while, choosing her words carefully so as not to sound rude, even though I'd only asked for her opinion; she didn't need to make such a fuss.
"He's an… amazing detective."
"…Is that all?"
"I-I'm not very good with words."
"I'll give you some time."
"Um…" Snow looked around and actually seemed stressed when I pressed her; I felt guilty about it, even though I'd only meant to tease her a little—but before I could apologise, she added. "All his theories and assumptions sounded plausible, as if he could see into the future; his ability to read people is also brilliant! At one point, I actually thought he could read people's minds," she laughed, unaware that the last part was the very reason the detective had used to trick us.
"Is that so?" I replied before continuing along the pavement, followed by her right beside me; we'd deliberately not called a taxi because we—or perhaps more accurately, I—just wanted to take a leisurely stroll whilst enjoying today's weather.
"What do you think of him, Alice?"
"He's a genius."
"Is that all?"
"I'm too lazy to string words together."
"…I'll give you time!"
"He's a genius and reliable."
"Still too short!"
I couldn't help but laugh; interactions like this are exactly what I love and find entertaining—BOOM—but it was as if the world wouldn't let me have a moment's rest; I heard the sound of an explosion far ahead of us. "What on earth was that?" Snow's mouth fell open and she turned to look at me.
I was actually fed up with it all; I just wanted to walk away and leave it as a problem for the other Fables. But I couldn't do that; perhaps—even if only slightly—that chaos might hold a clue about Red, and I didn't want to miss out on even the slightest chance.
We hurried towards the source of the sound, and when our feet came to a halt, how surprised we were to see a girl with hair the colour of a pumpkin—her twin tails fluttering in the wind, though that wasn't the most surprising thing; what was most shocking was how easily she popped a red telephone box into her mouth.
She chewed it, reducing the phone box to pieces; I could hear the sound of bolts and metal grinding away before she finally swallowed it and let out a rather loud belch. "That'll do for half the day," she said, her green eyes fixed on a boy who looked only slightly older than her and had the same physical features.
"Hold on a moment, I want to eat this car first," replied the boy, and began biting into the back of the car. Surprisingly, the speed of his bites was extraordinary—it didn't take long for him to devour half the car.
Beside me, the girl with light ash-coloured hair looked both bewildered and startled, whilst I was simply astonished by this utterly absurd situation. "They're… the people Juliet told us about, aren't they?" The words uttered by the girl standing beside me hung in the air.
"It can't be anyone else," I replied, as they were the only people I'd ever seen eat an entire vehicle and a telephone booth. "Snow, get ready—don't let them swallow your dolls, okay!"
They both then turned to look to their side when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps—which were none other than us. From what we'd heard, the girl was called Gretel and the boy was called Hansel—I actually wanted to make my entrance spectacular, but Snow was standing next to me and might have thought I was being a bit over the top.
"Hello, Hansel and Gretel~!" I greeted them cheerfully, leaving them bewildered as to how we could possibly know their names—but it was that very bewilderment that amused me.
"Who are you?!" Gretel snapped, and I immediately glanced at Snow with a mischievous smile; I wanted to tease them a little.
"My name is Eleanor the Deceit, a new member of the Seven Sins!" I announced, leaving them both even more baffled by the situation. I placed my hand on Snow's shoulder and introduced her as well. "And her name is... Whiteney the Vanity!"
Snow flinched at the fake name whilst the brother and sister exchanged glances; at least now they didn't look as if they were about to attack us out of the blue. "In that case, go ahead and recite the oath."
"…The oath?"
"The oath you took when you joined the organisation before being assigned to this team."
"Oh, is that a song by that metal band?"
"No!"
Snow glanced at me, who was really enjoying this. "A metal band?" She leaned in and whispered right next to my ear.
"Ah, my mate's into bands like that, so I've no choice but to get to know them and listen to her singing almost every day," I replied, and just as it was getting more and more exciting—my ears picked up the sound of a car siren from behind us; I turned round and saw that it was a police car speeding towards us before finally coming to a stop.
The door swung open and a woman with short navy-blue hair was already pointing her gun at the siblings. "Hands up and don't resist!" shouted the woman, whose voice sounded familiar to my ears; behind them, another police car had pulled up to assist.
The female police officer's eyes glanced in our direction for a moment. "Y-You?! Fables, what are you doing here?! Are you in cahoots with them?" she asked, though her eyes remained fixed ahead—she was clutching her pistol very tightly, and police officers from the other car began to get out and also aimed their guns.
"That bullet won't affect us," remarked Hansel, and at that very moment—BANG—the policewoman named Ciel pulled the trigger, sending a bullet hurtling towards the two of them. Hansel simply had to open his mouth and bite the bullet just in time before chewing it. "I told you so, didn't I?" he said, chewing.
"We'd better get out of here first," Gretel sighed, handing the glass bottle to her brother before they both took a drink at the same time—shortly afterwards, their legs began to fade away and the fading quickly crept upwards towards their heads until they vanished completely from our view.
All the policemen slowly lowered their guns and Ciel turned fully towards the two of us, who looked disappointed that the pair had left before we could pry out any more information. "Just look at how far you've come—now there are even Fables running away from you in fear," I teased, and the woman immediately walked over to us.
"An acquaintance of yours?" asked Snow.
"Uh-huh," I nodded.
When he was close enough, I wanted to say something, but he immediately gripped my wrist tightly and we were right up against each other—his bright blue eyes stared intently at me, his eyebrows furrowed, leaving me bewildered. "Come with me; there's something I need to confirm with you," he ordered.
"No handcuffs," I offered, because if I wore handcuffs, I'd look like a criminal who'd just committed a very serious offence—and I didn't like the idea of that.
Ciel pondered this for a moment before letting out a long sigh and giving his reply. "And no cards," he requested, to which I immediately nodded in agreement. His eyes darted to my side, where Snow stood, looking utterly bewildered by what was happening. "You—"
"No, don't involve her in our business," I cut in before he could say another word. I glanced at Snow and gave her a small smile. "You can go, Snow, and if anyone asks where I am? Just say I'm being cornered by a woman trying to flirt with me."
"Don't talk rubbish," Ciel snapped, turning towards the girl whose face clearly showed a bewildered expression that was almost comical. "Just say she's at the police station for a bit of questioning."
I was then pulled towards the car and put in the back seat; I peered out of the window and waved at Snow, who waved back before the car sped off, leaving Snow, who couldn't quite take in the sheer number of events that had unfolded in such a short space of time. "...I think I need a rest," Snow muttered before turning away as the car I was in disappeared from view.
Inside the car, I sat with my knees drawn up and stared at the rear-view mirror near the woman who was driving, her focus fixed on the road. "I won't get a criminal record, will I?" I asked, taking a glass from my card and pouring dark tea into it. "And what would you like?" I asked, holding out the empty cup towards her.
"Didn't I already tell you there are no cards?" she asked firmly, and I could only laugh at just how stiff she was; her blue eyes were still fixed on me in the rear-view mirror's reflection.
"Oh, come on—what's so harmful about dark tea? Haven't you ever been to a tea party before? If not, perhaps I could take you," I asked before sipping it; this dark tea had appeared from my card, and if I'm honest—it tasted very different from real dark tea, because my card couldn't recreate a drink exactly like this; it would be a different story if I'd summoned the ingredients to make it. "And stop staring at me, Officer; keep your eyes on the road."