Back at the front of town, a man stumbled out of one a bar and ventured into the streets. He had been drinking quite a bit that night, yet not enough to be completely blacked out drunk just yet He had been looking to change that, but unforunately hitting on the bar maids too much gets you thrown out, and he wasn't too drunk to make a fuss. Jack Wheeler's men might decide to police the town again and he didn't want to be on their hit list. As he ventured through the streets, he would notice a small trio of black clad figures coming forth.
Two were almost identical, wearing strange outfits and
masks, while the third walked between them and had a similar outifit sans mask, and their outfit was had gold linings throughout. The drunk hobbled backwards as he immediately recognized who these people were, even in his stupor, however one of the masked figures would immediately appear behind him to block his path. It was almost like the figure had appeared out of thin air. The drunk started to cry out as he turned again, only to immediately fall silent as a woman quietly shushed him. For some reason, the drunk was immediately soothed. He couldn't make a noise if he wanted to now.
"Just relax, we're not here to hurt you. But we are new in town, and we'd like to ask you a question. You will answer in honesty." The woman said in a soothing tone. The man nodded and smiled.
"Y-yeah. I'm gonna be honest. What do you wanna know?" He asked, stumbling some and almost falling if one of the masked figures hadn't seized him by the arm to stabilize him. The hooded woman smiled and looked past him into the town.
"Some Inquisitors were sent down here to search for Sprockets, did they find them?" She asked. The man quickly nodded and looked over his shoulder towards the other end of town.
"Yeah they sure did...a Ms. Nemo I think she was called. They caught her and were gonna execute her in public." He said. The woman gave puzzled look before she looked at the two figures holding the man, both having to stabilize him now.
"And did they?" She asked. The man paused for a moment before shaking his head.
"Nope! They were gonna, but some local guys took care of em. Shot those clock jocks dead and dumped in the harbor..hic!" He let out a light burp. The woman frowned and crossed her arms, giving a sigh before gesturing to the masked figures. They both let go of the man who promptly fell to the ground onto his knees. As he tried to catch his bearings, he looked up at the woman as she knelt down to him.
"Do you know the names of the men who killed the Inquisitors?" She asked. He stared at her in silence, blinking several times as if he couldn't quite understand.
"J..J-a...Ja....." He kept trying to form words but for some reason he couldn't make them out. The woman gave a sigh and stood back up.
"The alcohol is dulling his senses, this isn't worth our time. We'll ask someone else." She said. The two figures nodded and turned to move away, but not before the woman touched the man on the shoulder again.
"You will never touch alcohol again, otherwise you will vomit violently. If you have a wife and children, you will go home and be a faithful and dutiful husband." She said.
The man sat there in the middle of the street, stupefied. When he finally came to, he would notice that no one was around him, and that he suddenly had an urge to get home and teach his children how to read.
Eventually the trio would find the details they needed, the bodies had been dumped at the port. As they reached the area and searched, however, they would find no source of the bodies, but something else picked at the leader. She reached for her pocket watch, a rather extravagant version of the standard issue, this one being golden, and took a moment to focus.
"There's a watch leaving the harbor. Interesting. A defector hmm? These must be the ones that Maria is after." The woman said. She moved to the end of the dock and glanced out to sea, spotting a silhouette in the distance. The woman gave a smirk before turning to the other two with her.
"Send out a boat and go after them. I shall remain here and continue my search in the town." She said. The two figures both gave a bow in acknowledgment and then immediately vanished from thin air.