30 Plush (2/2)
Focusing on using the artifact, Garett elicited Alice to follow him forward. He carefully measured his steps as to not make much noise; but principally, to not step onto anything and smear his boots beyond salvation,
”We are getting close, the source should not be too far away, as it's manifestation was limited to only the street above.” He mumbled to assure himself. The lens worked especially well in the darkness, a trail of gray energy was easily distinguished amidst the shadows, just like a magic guide to his destination.
A few moments of silence passed as the duo gradually approached their destination, a thick amalgamation of grayish energy was the only thing visible in Garett's view. Tired of relying only on the artifact, he rapidly materialized another lighter and lit it up to bring light to the surroundings.
”Didn't you throw this thing back there? How is it in your hands now?” The sudden illumination puzzled Alice to no end, her face permeated with confusion. ”And if you had it, why didn't you light it before!? I was walking in the dark all this time…”
”Uh…” Garett's heart skipped a beat! ”I brought another one. I thought the gas of the first one would end… And it's easier to use the lens in the dark.”
'Shit! I need to be more careful! If it was someone smarter than Alice, the captain, for example, I wouldn't be able to explain it…' Garett felt a drop of cold sweat forming on his forehead. He had been careless in his annoyance!
”Huh… Fine, where's the source?” She quickly dismissed him and turned to look in front of them.
”Right…. here.” His excitation at finding the source instantly dimmed when he realized what was the object. A plush dog toy was mixed with the dirty water in the sewers, a slight friendly smile plastered on its innocent face! For some reason, Garett felt the same chills that he had experienced earlier in the day!
”A plush?”
Alice was dumbstruck! She had expected a mutant's body or an old artifact thrown in the sewers, but this had never crossed her mind! How could something like a child's toy be the source of such a terrifying supernatural phenomenon!?
”Yeah…” Garett carefully picked it up, his skin tingling and eliciting the hairs on his arm to stand. ”What… do we do now?”
”Burn it.” She shrugged, a small relief was evident on her face. ”That's the easiest way.”
”Don't we need it to… investigate? We don't even know where it came from…”
”These are the sewers, Garett. Every child in Lhûn could be our culprit at this point.” She dismissed him and turned to leave, content with the results of their mission. ”Let's leave, I don't want to stay down here for any minute longer than I have to.”
”Every child?” Garett's eyes suddenly widened and his body froze as Vincent's figure surfaced his head! From every child in the city, none of them seemed more suspicious than him!
'Could it be him? It sure is suspicious… I don't know when the Almirs arrived at Lhûn, the first record of the phenomenons are at least a week and a half old…' Garett needed more information to base his hypothesis, but every instinct of his pointed in this direction! The indescribable sensation he felt when seeing Vincent's smile would forever be imprinted in his head!
”Yeah… let's leave.” He grabbed the plush toy and inspected it while following Alice, hoping to find anything to help with his deductions. ”Huh?”
”What is it?” Alice questioned while walking after hearing his surprise, not bothered to turn around and look at the recruit. ”This place is giving me the creeps, and I feel dirty all over! I'll need to bath a dozen times to get rid of this feeling…”
”There's an initial at the plush's paw…” A glaring letter written with black ink was the only indication left by a former owner of the toy. Even if the ink had mostly faded after who knew how many days in the sewers, Garett understood it after some time staring at it. ”It's an N?”
”Good, now we can discard every child with a name that starts with every other letter.” Alice ridiculed while starting to climb the cold steel stairs, hoping to arrive back at the surface as soon as possible.