Perception and Deception
"I don't even know what she was even thinking, where would she go? It's late out already! I need to go and find her!" Jesse lifted his wings before there was a oink in the distance.
A little pig running down the entrance to the convention, brushing through the crowd.
"Look! It's Reuben!" Olivia pointed out.
"But where's your sister, Jesse?" Axel looked over.
Jesse knelt down as the pig ran into his arms, "Reuben, there you are!"
"Does that mean, she found where Reuben was?" Olivia looked over to Jesse.
Jesse patted Reuben's head, "Tell me, please. Is my sister with you?"
The pig only shook his head in response.
Jesse stood up and began to pace, "I'm seriously considering to just fly over to every forest just to find her."
"We don't have wings, we can't follow you, Jesse." Axel shook his head, "I wonder if I had wings of my own, what would they look like...?"
Jessica and Petra made their way to the entrance of the convention, already bustling with music, overlapping conversations, the usual crowd.
"So, when we're making the deal, I need you to let me do the talking, okay? I just don't want anything to screw this up." Petra instructed Jessica, walking beside her, still keeping an eye out when her wings end up beginning to drag across the ground.
Jessica shrugged, "Sure, I'll let you handle it."
"And if you want to be really useful, try to look intimidating." Petra suggested.
"Ooooh! Like this!" Jessica puffed her wings, lowered her head and let out a deep hiss, but the act was cut short after her wound acted up.
Petra blinked before shaking her head, "I'm less scared-of you than scared-for you..."
"JESSICA!" Immediately, broad looming feathers draped around Jessica's form, her brother dashed and held her close, "Thank goodness you are alive!"
"Oh, hey, J..." Jessica was nearly tilting backward before lightly pulling away from Jesse.
"And...Petra?" Olivia walked over to notice the two had arrived at the entrance to Endercon.
Jessica lifted her head, "Hey, you all know Petra, my super-close friend. We're super-close now."
All in a single night? Jesse seemed suspicious but Axel and Olivia were not buying the act. Petra looked away as to not engage with the statement to deem it true, it was too soon to assume anything.
Jessica awkwardly corrected herself, "We ran into each other while I was looking for Reuben."
Speaking of the pig who heard his name, he stepped out to reunite with one of his companions out of the two twins. Jessica was happy to see Reuben safe and with the rest of the group as she picked him up into her arms, "There you are, buddy! I told you I'd make it back...!"
Jesse looked over to notice the bandages made from wool around one of his sister's wings, "What have you got there?"
Jessica stiffened before quickly setting down Reuben and pressing her wings against her back to hide them, "...Uh...! New feathers growing in probably...?"
"Did they just start growing in? I didn't see that before." Jesse took a step forward as Jessica quickly took a step back before her brother could reach her shoulder.
"Ah, well...! It's nothing, hey, Petra...uh...we were going to do something- Right...!?" Jessica seemed a little panicked.
Petra nodded, "Yeah, I can let you know about those feathers later-"
"You're not hiding anything from me are you?" Jesse and Jessica began to start circling each other.
"I'm not...!" Jessica argued.
"Then why don't you want me to see them?" Jesse argued back.
"Woah, woah, okay, both of you stop-" Petra tried to intervene, it didn't seem to stop any of them.
Axel and Olivia seemed to not attempt to step in, they were used to the arguments more than Petra's experience with the two interacting with each other. It only escalates when someone else out of the circle tries to butt into the argument.
Jesse caught a glimpse of the bandages and realized it, "You got hurt!? Why didn't you tell me!?"
"This is the exact reason why! I'm okay now! It's fixed! My wings are fine!" Jessica huffed.
"Hell they aren't, you ran into monsters out in that forest, didn't you?" Jesse stopped Jessica from running by pinning her tail to the ground.
Jessica turned around to face her brother, "I'm not dying! It was just one arrow!"
"One arrow, are you kidding me! On your wing!?" Jesse's own wings raised slightly.
"Ugh! You always worry about me over the smallest things! I'm not a little girl anymore, why can't you just let me hold my own for once?" Jessica groaned in annoyance.
"You are nowhere near able to hold your own, you can't even fly." Jesse pointed out.
"You know what? I don't want to talk about this anymore, Petra, we're going." Jessica brushed past Petra.
"Fine with me," Petra quickly agreed and guided Jessica away from the group, "Hurry, we're supposed to meet in the alley over there."
Jesse, Olivia, and Axel were left standing. Reuben looked saddened by Jessica walking away.
"...You both need to settle this later." Olivia glared at Jesse who didn't meet her gaze.
"I feel kind of weird every time we have to wait for them to stop fighting..." Axel commented.
Jessica's tail lowered, but not close enough to drag on the ground. The walls were too close together and the light from the windows didn't seem to help make anything visible to her comfort.
Petra stopped as she reached a small space between the intersecting alleyways, there was a chest suspiciously placed facing the view outside of the second opening into the convention streets.
"That's weird...He said the dark, creepy alley close to the gates, but he's not here. Maybe he's late." Petra looked around.
Jessica was still unnerved, possibly finding an excuse to go somewhere else without being flat out admitting to flat out ditching Petra on whatever trade she's been trying to do, it couldn't been anywhere but a dark small space, "Are you sure this is the dark, creepy alley he meant?" she asked.
Petra was sure this place was the right destination, the chest should've been obvious, "Hmmm...I was."
She then turned to face Jessica, "Okay, new plan. You stay here just in case this IS the spot he meant, and I'll look around."
Jessica dreaded that statement, why does she have to sit in a dark area where anything could pop up at her anytime? But she simply nodded, betraying her inner thoughts, "Okay, I'll hold down the fort." She will definitely not. The moment something scares her, she will fly away.
"Thanks, Jess. I'll be back before you know it. If he shows up while I'm gone, just stall for me." Petra walked out of the alleyways and left Jessica stuck in her place.
This can give her some time to think, as she felt aware of her body once more, her feathers were puffed again. One of them that was bandaged seem to be more interesting than the dark corners of the alleyways. The work was tight, but it didn't cut off her circulation. The wool was rubbing against the feathers which made her feel a little itchy. Perhaps preening underneath the bandages wouldn't hurt as long as she didn't pull on the fabric or touch her injury. It didn't hurt as much anymore, had it healed up already?
A coarse and harsh voice came from the silence, startling Jessica in her thoughts. A scrawny black bearded man emerged from the shadows, "And just who are you?"
Is this perhaps the guy Petra was meeting up with?
"You know, you really shouldn't creep on people like that...it's creepy." Jessica took a step back, her feathered tail coiling around her legs.
"Don't test me," the man glared, "I'm supposed to meet with Petra, not whatever you're supposed to be. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't walk out of here right now."
That answered Jessica's question for sure, he didn't seem to be in the kind of mood for small talk. How can she ever keep him standing around here until Petra comes back? Where even is Petra right now? Jessica had to act fast to try and keep the conversation interesting, or anything that relates to what he's here for even if Jessica doesn't have what he wants at the moment.
"I'm with Petra." Jessica straightened her posture, her wings lifting slightly to acknowledge their presence and her identity as nowhere near a mere cowering human. Of course, there was something about this guy that didn't seem like the average human being. The ends of his robes faded into transparency, perhaps that ability links him to being a phantom. She never knew anyone as a phantom personally, but she had seen more of those kinds of citizens at night.
"My deal is with her, not her partner." He snapped back.
Jessica nodded, "She'll be here, but we can get started without her." ...What came out of her mouth?
"Do you have the skull?"
...Why did Jessica even speak at all? She can't even answer honestly to that question.
"You do or you don't?" The man pointed.
Jessica pressed her wings against her back, "Petra has it, and she'll be here any minute now."
Somehow this appeased the man, "Well. As long as she's bringing it...I suppose it wouldn't kill me to wait a minute longer."
"Yeah...the night is still young...We got all the time in the world." Jessica responded, it sounded more awkward than she would've liked.
"Ivor," A familiar voice returned, Jessica was relieved.
"Ah, here she is..." The man, Ivor, discovered Petra emerging from the second passage to the alleyway.
"Sorry I'm late, but good things are worth waiting for." Petra finally stopped beside Jessica and faced Ivor, "I got what you asked for."
"IF, you have what you promised us." Jessica wanted to feel included, she spoke with much more confidence when she was around Petra. Possibly to show off...
"You didn't say anything about an "us" when we first met. And I don't like surprises." Ivor shook his head, "If these are the sorts of people you associate with, perhaps we should call the whole thing off."
Petra nudged Jessica's arm, hinting at her for something, "My friend is fine, right Jesse? There's no problem here. Let's not be too hasty. This was just a little misunderstanding."
"Let's just do this thing," Jessica just wants to leave.
"That's what I thought," Petra just needs that diamond.
"Proceed then," Ivor just needs that wither skull.
Petra pulled out the skull and handed it to Ivor as he took it upon himself to inspect it in his grasp. He seemed impressed by the quality, it was nowhere near a counterfeit.
"I'll take that diamond now," Petra spoke.
Ivor gestured to the chest behind the two, "Take it. You've earned it."
Petra walked to the chest against the wall and opened it, Jessica followed to peek over to see inside.
"Uh..." Jessica's tail flopped to the ground, "This isn't a diamond."
"No, it's lapis." Petra took out a single blue shard, nothing shiny about it. But it was like any other ore.
Jessica and Petra looked back to the opening of the alleyway, Ivor was nowhere to be seen.
"Of all the dirty, underhanded tricks to pull," Petra scoffed.
"Jeez, I knew there was something off about him." Jessica shook her head.
Petra only tucked the lapis into her inventory and took off in a sprint with Jessica quickly following behind, "Screw this, we gotta go after him!"
The two rushed out of the alleyway and further into the convention, Petra looked over to Jessica, "I'm either getting that diamond, or I'm getting my skull back."
"...or you'll make him pay, right? Right?" Jessica sneered.
As the two make it out into the open area, where most of the crowd are huddling over different stands and showcases, it was hard to tell where Ivor could be. There was too many people to individually identify from afar.
"I think we lost him," Jessica sighed.
Petra turned to Jessica, clearly not giving up, "Then we'll just have to find him again. Go!"