Garnet was the first one to wake up with a towel over her chest as she groggily opened her eyes and stretched her limbs. Turning her head to look at her left, she noticed that this is a room she didn't recognize from first glance, confusing the little pixie about how she got herself into this without remembering a thing before the memory of what happened last night came to mind, making her perplexed the more she tried to recall anything.
Getting up, she calmly flew up in the air. Observing her new surroundings around her, she was surrounded by various supplies, weapons, furniture, and tools all packed together, unorganized by default. The little pixie began to feel claustrophobic and uneasy about her current situation, especially with her only escape being locked behind the steel door.
The things Garnet saw in this room likely tell her that she is in Vesh's ship based on the advanced-looking items in this place, making her conclude they were brought back for something to do with what happened prior to blacking out. Lacking any answer, she then sat on top of the messy table as she contemplated the previous events, trying to remember any of them before feeling something in her hand that caught her attention.
Looking down, she was holding a golden watch with its metallic casing. Garnet didn't recognize this piece of antique equipment, wondering where it came from and who had given it to Vesh in the first place. Regardless, she was curious about the thing and decided to expect it out of pure boredom. After a while, the watch's lid slowly opened to reveal its inside, revealing an old photograph inside the timepiece with black and white film covering the item.
"A picture?" In the photo, mutant and human were around in their teens, smiling happily together despite how difficult it is to judge by the mutant's bat-shaped head, but the boy he recognized from the get-go said, "Is that...Adam?" He wore a simple white shirt and pants, a plain, ordinary outfit with nothing too special about it, as if he just got dressed up randomly and quickly without paying much attention to what he wore on this day. But the faces share a strong resemblance to him.
"Adam, Adam, Adam," she said, snapping her fingers multiple times to recall the memories from last night, her eyes focused on above while staring blankly at the ceiling, using her tiny brain to forcibly look into the past prior to waking up in this place, hoping to see some memories from last night before her eyes widen and she looked back at the photograph as the sudden realization struck her.
"Lilim!" Everyone too! How could she forget them?" This isn't her concern now; what she needs to do is get out of here rather than simply wait for something to happen. The longer she stays here, the more trouble she and her friends are in; even so, the main problem is unlocking the door blocking her only exit!
"Maybe one of them is probably awake?" Scratching her chin in deep thought, trying to come up with some solution or anything to open the door but finding no way, she sighed heavily until the door opened, snapping her out of her train of thoughts. There stood Cain and Alucard, relieved to see their mirthful pixie once more.
"Mistress!" She lunged herself toward Alcuard as if she were a hungry lion, her arms stretched towards the girl, ready to give her a big embrace. Instead of giving her the hug she desired, Garnet was quickly held by Mistress fingers, firmly holding the fragile wings behind her back. "Eh?" Her comical reaction of surprise didn't last long when she saw her deadpan expression staring straight at her soul.
"Where were you?" The young mistress veins popped out of her face from her intense, growing rage and impatience. Looking at the pixie with the same glare that can easily burn through any brave soul, she said, "We were looking all over you for an hour!" Scolding the pixie in a high-pitched voice, not bothering to hide her irritation or anger from her voice, which only made the pixie shrink down to her knees in fear of punishment, she said, "I really thought you were dead!"
Bringing her hands together with large comedic sweat appearing on her face, Garnet quickly tried to calm down the raging mistress with a soothing prayer: "I just woke up in here!" Reasoning to the mistress that she wasn't doing anything foolishly stupid in leaving her sight, she said, "You've got to believe me!" making a pleading expression that will easily make anyone believe and sympathize with her in this situation.
Pouting like a greedy child, Alucard denied such an excuse by shaking her head left and right and saying, "Not buying it!" Refusing to believe anything coming from her servant's mouth, she said, "If you want to tell me where you went, then you've got to answer my questions first!" Waving her index finger left and right, "truthfully!" Her patience has come to an end, and she wants answers now.
She then felt a soft hand touching her left shoulder. "Child, let her go." A fatherly voice coming from Cain's mouth made the mistress look at him with curious eyes. "Let her be." Softening his tone, calming her down in an instant, "it was our fault that we lost track of her," his eyes show a resemblance to Adam's, almost kinder even.
"Hmph!" Removing her hands from the pixie, she crossed her arms with eyes closed, pridefully hurt from having to give up on the topic, especially when she was ordered to listen by this old geezer: "You should be wise to know your places." Alucard then turned towards him, placing a index finger onto his chest and rudely saying, "Don't you order me if I were some servant to you, human! I'm no slave or child to anyone!"
The young mistress turned and left without saying another word, disgruntled from being talked down as if she were still a child, creating a small scene out of it, leaving the elderly man to have Garnet start apologizing for her behavior, "hehehe, sorry about that..." Rubbing the back of her head in awkwardness as she tries to smile out of this, she says, "My mistress can sometimes be childish and short-tempered," explaining why she acts like a spoiled bratty girl, "but she's actually nice if you get to know her!"
Cain chuckled at the apology: "It's fine, little one. The girl reminds me of a boy I once raised," his smile spoke of nostalgia, thinking back to his adopted son that was taken away from him, "and just like the boy, they both have a strong spirit of being angry all the time," giving off a humorous impression that the old man couldn't help but chuckle, "I wouldn't mind giving you tips for handling with the young mistress," suggesting that he is willing to teach the pixie how to manage with the bratty girl.
Garnet giggled, giving off a friendly response to his suggestion, "Thanks, but no thanks, grumps!" Sticking her tongue out in playfulness, she said, "I have everything under control," boasting her words in confidence, "If I say I can do something, then I will do it!" Pointing her finger up high, acting as cool as possible, and showing how confident she is with what she does.
He laughed before turning and saying, "The child must be waiting for us," his kind face turning into a stern one that doesn't accept disobedience or disinterest, "Let's not keep her waiting any longer." She quickly followed after him, flying at his side as the same, noisy hallway of gasses pumping in and out with their constant sound said, "Hey mister," the pixie flew and sat on his shoulder, "you got any interesting stories?"
"Have you read the book of Genesis, little one?" He asked her while continuing to walk down the long hallway with her on his shoulder, "It's an interesting book with a story about two brothers." His tone sounded interested and calm as he explained the story to the young pixie that sat on his shoulder: "The eldest brother was named Abel, and the youngest was Cain," explaining this story to her.
"Cain? Isn't that your name?" Confusion and surprise filled her voice, and she displayed a questionable look on her face. "Are you telling me your life story now?" Sounding as if she doesn't believe a word he said but was just saying this out of boredom and nothing else, "because if you are grumps, then I don't want to hear it."
Smiling from her reply, "It's just a story; every written or told tale has fabrications and truths in there; the person I'm describing might be me or someone else that shares my name," giving off a casual response to her question as they kept walking down the hallway of gases, "it is an interesting story that you might be intrigued by listening to."
She sat in deep thought, contemplating whether or not she should listen to this story or just pretend to do so. Having eventually given up, he sat back down on his shoulder and asked, "So what's the story about?" Her patience wearing thin, she decided to just ask him what the story was about, "Tell me," choosing to be more curious about hearing it.
"There is no wrong or right way to understand a story," his eyes staring forward, ignoring the noises around them, "in its own sense," continuing his speech to her, "stories can be about many things, be it fiction or non-fiction," the noise echoing loudly, "whether or not they are true is a matter of perspective."
Sitting back on his shoulder again, Garnet crossed her arms with annoyance as she replied, "Is it really important for me to know this?" The pixie asked, feeling like he wanted to explain it to her for the sake of being an entertainer rather than because he really wanted to tell her something important.
"It's up to you; would you wish to hear the tale of this old man?" He responded to her question with another, his expression never changing even with his smile still plastered on his face: "Would you wish to hear such a tale of two brothers in their pursuits?" The latter, mysterious questions had confused her greatly before finally giving in: "Okay grumps! Just don't make it too boring for me!" Garnet shouted as she threw a tiny punch at his cheek playfully.
He didn't react to the sudden blow due to how light it was but nonetheless agreed to her request: "Since the beginning of creation, God created Adam and Eve, the first man and woman to set foot onto earth." Cain spoke in a deep and modulated voice as he began to describe the tale: "When they conceive, two brothers are born, Cain and Able."
Her interest in his story immediately grew, and she wanted to hear more of this tale from him when she looked up at him with wonderment. She thought of commenting about this but decided not to, not wanting to interrupt his story while she simply listened, engaged in this exciting discovery that she could never have enough of.
Cain continued with his tale, speaking of their fates in life: "When they reached manhood, Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. They made sacrifices for God in exchange for blessing from their creator," his expressionless face had given way to sorrow and anguish after telling her this story, "but Cain had an idea," the voice of the old man paused for a moment, looking up at the ceiling before continuing once again, "that the Lord loved Abel more than him."
Blinking multiple times, Garnet didn't like the sound of what was about to come, foreboding a dark end to this story, but she did not dare interrupt him just to get the truth of this ending, listening intently to his next words like always while thinking of how it would turn out to be, at the edge of her seat waiting for his next word.
"In envy of his younger brother's attention, Cain killed him. His last sentence was like a stab to her heart, not knowing if everything he said was true or not as she gasped from horror before continuing, "in this very act, God cursed Cain of being the first murderer; forced to become immortal husk with cursed gifts power. A long silence predated the air after he stared down at the hard floor, sorrow and regret etched all over his face, pondering deeply of this terrible memory, "God did not forget of this event, as Cain's mark would forever remain upon his skin."
Before she could question the legitimacy of this story, Alucard's voice brought their attention back to reality: "Hey you two! Aren't you going to help me here or what?" They didn't realize that they were already in the main lobby, where the young mistress stood in front of the holographic computer and said, "I don't have all day!"
Sighing from the long-winded tale, he let out a forced smile for his pixie friend: "Quite a tale, isn't it?" The small pixie only nodded in silence, not sure what to say at this moment other than knowing one thing: the aura he gave her was as fake as ever, masking his real feelings about his inner self.
