'Yeah, I will, probably...' Wendigo muttered. 'It'll be hard though. We've never talked about what might happen if one of us dies. Fred doesn't have any plans for after Sargon's death.'

While Wendigo and Jerry were talking, Ivy suddenly came over. She paused a few feet away and sniffed the air suspiciously. 'Has someone been smoking around here? It smells awful.'

(*t e l e p o r t s i n*
h e w w o)

(Hello child of Satan)

( :)) hi
uhhhhh I could reply to the awkward family reunion + Keenan and Steve, but other than that I dunno if we could do much??
I could always yeet Dark Brink in if you want anyone to interact with him?? or I could bring Mia back in, say that she's managed to make her way over? (I may or may not have forgotten that we left her unconscious in Shacklestone :')))))

(You should definitely do the awkward family reunion, and it'd be cool if Mia came back! I kinda forgot about her for a while, but maybe if she comes back then she and Crowley could meet up again eventually?

I currently only have two characters free and I don't really have anything to do right now, so I'm probably just gonna sit back and watch or something. XD)

(aight, cool cool! we can get a crimes squad consisting of Crowley, Vitis and Mia up XD)

(What a beautiful team they'll be. XD They can steal the whole contents of the palace together.)

{Jerry looks to Wendigo before addressing Ivy.} "I understand that. I don't either of you could have predicted these events. I was, Ivy. Why?"

{Vitis just smirks and starts to head downstairs} "Well, I guess it's time to to be Feely Mc Stealys, eh?"

(Yes, Mia! I actually really like that character.)

Ivy wrinkled her nose. 'Why were you doing that, dare I ask? It's disgusting, it smells bad, and it'll probably kill you someday.'

'Of course,' Crowley replied, throwing a grin over his shoulder as he climbed back out the broken window. 'I'm leaving the front door locked, since I don't have the key. Now nobody will be able to get in. Well, unless they see the window, obviously.'

A while after everyone got back, Armin left the hospital area and wandered outside into the city to explore. It was quiet, as night was falling by then, and apart from a few guards and soldiers patrolling the streets, there weren't really any people around. He found a city square with a large stone fountain in the middle and leaned against it, breathing in the night air and looking around.

(Just putting Armin outside in case I need him for an interaction or something.)

{Jerry just chuckles.} "Why do you care? I have my reasons."

{Vitis waits for Crowley to walk a distance away before flipping over the welcome mat, finding a spare key.}"Heheheheheheheh, bird boy's got a bird brain."

'I just told you exactly why I care,' Ivy huffed. 'And what reasons could you possibly have? I hate that stuff, I always refuse to go out with people who smoke, no matter how cool they are. It's disgusting.'

Crowley was blissfully unaware of Vitis's insult, as he had already walked a good distance up the street. After a moment, he stopped and looked back, a surprised expression on his face. 'Hey, snake boy, are you coming or what?'

{Jerry just gives a concerned look.} "Well, in my line of work, the stress can really get to you. I smoke because it calms me, let's me clear my head. What do you have against tobacco?"

{Vitis looks over at Crowley, walking up and pocketing the key.}
"Yeah, I'm coming. Where do you want to go first?"

Ivy rolled her eyes. 'I don't like it because it's stupid and dangerous. It might help you be calm, but it could still kill you. I guess nothing I say will convince you, though.'

Crowley eyed the key as Vitis pocketed it, then shrugged and started walking again. 'I don't know the layout of this city yet. I wanna explore, and if we see a house that looks like it belongs to a rich person, I'll break in.'

{Jerry sighs.} "Look, I'm flattered that you're concerned about me, but it's my decision. Besides, I'll probably be fine. My dad's been smoking for years and I've never so much as heard him cough."

{Vitis nods and follows.} "Sounds good to me. Can never have too much rich stuff."

Ivy just shrugged. 'Well, suit yourself.' Her gaze slowly wandered to Wendigo, whose three heads were visible over the top of the building. 'Hey, I thought you were supposed to be coming with us to catch the bad guys?'

'Got sidetracked,' said Wendigo, grinning sheepishly. 'But I'll definitely be at their trial, to make sure they don't try anything.'

'Yep,' said Crowley. 'I dunno what I'm going to do with it all, though. Eh, I guess it's just fun to have stuff that doesn't belong to you.' He continued walking, peering into the front windows of every house and shop they passed by. 'So, I don't know if you ever told me before... what made you start stealing?'

{Jerry looks up at Wendigo.} "Sidetracked doing what? What could've been more important?"

{Vitis chuckles.} "Y'know, it's a funny story. It started when I was a wee lad. There was this kid in my neighborhood, called James. Real prick, that guy. His family was loaded, and he'd always rub it in everyone's face. One day, he came up to me, bragging about the new gold chain his family bought him, and how it made him sooooo much better than the rest of us. So, you know what I did?"

'Well, I was kinda chatting with Mortikai, and it was interesting, and I forgot to follow you for a little while,' said Wendigo, averting his gaze. 'I mean, you guys were really quick, so by the time I remembered I was supposed to be with you, you had already come back.'

'You'd better have stolen it,' said Crowley, turning to look up at Vitis with a grin. 'Or killed him. That's what I would have done.'

Vitis: "Heheh, yeah, but, the key is /how/ I stole it. I walked right up to him, pushed him down, and took it off of him while he was bawling for mommy. Eheheheheh, you can bet the he didn't rub his wealth in my face anymore after that. But it was at that moment that I realized, if I could push over this kid and take what I wanted, then maybe I could push over /anyone/, and take what I wanted. Well, over time, the pushing turned to stabbing, but it's the same basic principle.
And that's how I started stealing stuff."

{Jerry gave a concerned look.} "Really? What did you talk about? Truth be told, I always thought of him more as a cautionary tale..."

'Not much,' said Wendigo. 'Apparently he came to the city looking for someone? I think his family. And he was saying stuff about how they probably hated him. And I think he mentioned - or implied - that he wanted to leave Dark Brink.' He screwed up his face in concentration as he spoke, not having very good memory.

Crowley let out a cackling laugh. 'Oh my god, I wish I could have seen that kid's face. I bet it was awesome. I hate spoilt rich kids. If it had been me I would have done more than just knock him over and steal his stuff. Pretty cool way to get involved in the crime world, though. Congratulations.'

Jerry: "Makes sense. Working for a dark power is likely a frightening existence. I don't blame him."

{Vitis laughs} "Yeah, I have those stuck-up loaded types. Y'know, I bet he's still out there somewhere. I'd like to find him again. So I could mug him again."

'Where did you grow up, anyway?' said Crowley curiously. 'I mean, if it was Shacklestone, and that rich guy still lived there, well, he's probably dead by now.'

Ivy nodded in agreement. 'I feel a little sorry for him, working for Brink. Well, I suppose he was the one who chose it in the first place.'

'Yeah, it's hard to feel sorry for him when he's probably helped Brink do horrible stuff to people,' Wendigo added. 'Though, from our conversation, he didn't seem much like a bad guy.'

Vitis: "Yeah, I grew up in the slums, went to the rich district to dumpster dive. Lotta kids did those days. Yeah, I'm guessin' Sargo, or whatever his name was probably had him killed."

"Well, that's just the problem." {Jerry says while rubbing the back of his head.} "Once you make a deal with Brink, he basically owns you. Mortikai probably didn't even have a say in any of it."

'Yeah, probably,' said Crowley. He kicked an empty drink can on the road as he walked along. 'I bet most of the people I used to fight with when I was a kid are dead, too. I grew up in an OK area, in the Silver District. But I used to go to the Bronze District all the time, 'cuz it was more fun there. I had a few friends too, but they're probably dead as well.'

Wendigo snorted. 'Shame. He doesn't seem like he enjoys it at all. I hope he does manage to win his freedom, or defeat Brink, or something one day.'

At that moment, Ivy glanced up at the sky. 'It's dark,' she muttered, in a tone of surprise, as if she hadn't noticed. 'I'm gonna go back.' She turned and began to head back slowly towards the palace.

{Vitis nods.} "Huh, sorry to hear that. But, nothing can be done about it now. I guess we should just move forward..."

{Jerry looked to Ivy.} "Yeah, I probably should too." {Getting up, he addresses Wendigo one last time.} "See you later, pal."