Emptiness

The tavern they ended up in was barely lit, a hole cut into the side of an alley that smelt like boiled cabbage and spilt ale. The sign outside had long since rotted away, the paint had bled into the wood, and the inside was worse—ceiling low, air damp, smoke curling in a way that made the lanterns look like they were drowning. A handful of old men hunched over their cups, not speaking, only staring into the dregs as though that was safer than looking at strangers. No music. No laughter. Just the scrape of mugs and the occasional cough. Perfect for what they needed.

They took the back corner without a word. Ren slid into the bench first, the wood tacky under his palms. Hibiki followed, dropping his morning star with a clatter against the wall, his head falling into his hands like the weight of it had finally pulled his body down. Miyako sat last, her hood low, her knife on the table in front of her like a barrier. Darius leaned back against the wall, breathing like every rib was cracked, one hand pressed against the side of his face where his eye was nearly shut.

Alice’s absence was a knife none of them could put down. Ren could see it in the way Hibiki’s leg shook against the table, bouncing with a rhythm too fast to be nerves. In the way Miyako’s jaw clenched every time someone in the tavern glanced their way. In the way Darius stared at the floor, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. The crossbow lay in Ren’s pack under the table, heavier than any sword.

For a long while they didn’t speak. Hibiki broke first, voice thick and broken. “We had her. She was right there. I heard her reload. I fucking heard it.” His hand slammed against the table, rattling the mugs. “How do we lose her in a room that small?” Miyako didn’t flinch, but her voice was cold steel. “Because you screamed and rushed before the plan. Because I was circling when the smoke went off. Because Ren was holding off two, and Alice—" Her words caught for half a second before she finished. “Alice wasn’t ready. We all weren’t ready.”

“Don’t you dare put this on her.” Hibiki snapped, lifting his head. His eyes were red, wet in the corners. “She’s gone because of us, not her. She was doing everything she could, and we—" He broke off, kicking the bench hard enough to make it creak. “We fucked it.”

Darius groaned, shifting against the wall. “You’re all fools if you think shouting will change anything. They wanted her. That’s why they let me live. That’s why they left that note.” His voice was thick with blood and bitterness. “I was bait. And you walked straight into it.” Ren finally spoke, his voice low, steady enough to surprise even himself. “Then tell us where they’d take her.” His hand was curled around his mug, knuckles white. “You’ve been in this city longer than us. You know more. So stop sitting there staining the floor and help us.”

Darius’s mouth twisted in something between a laugh and a cough. “You think I helped you out of kindness? No. I knew the moment I saw you—you don’t belong here. Not just lost in the city, but not of it. I’ve seen threads before, faint, like scratches in glass, but around you… it’s different. Stronger. Wrong. That’s why I stuck my neck out. Thought maybe you’d tip the scales, maybe even tear down the Concordium before it twists this place beyond saving. Instead…” He shook his head. “…instead you’re stumbling blind, same as the rest.”

Darius’s head tilted, one swollen eye narrowing at him. “You think I know their every hiding hole? You think they carve their secrets into the walls for anyone to read? This city swallows people, boy. That’s all you need to know.” Miyako leaned forward, her knife still resting on the table but her hand near it. “That’s not enough. We’ve already stepped in their blood. We can’t walk away. Where?”

The older man let out a humourless laugh, sharp and broken. “You don’t get it. They don’t need temples or banners. They walk the streets the same as you. Dock rats. Concordium scribes. Beggars with their hands out. You think you’ll find a hole and drag her back like she’s chained in a basement?” He spat blood onto the floorboards. “If they want her, she’s gone already.”

Hibiki surged forward, fist curling, but Ren grabbed his wrist before he could launch across the table. “Enough!” His voice cracked through the tavern, making the men at the bar glance over. He lowered it quickly, leaning across the table. “She’s not gone. Not yet. Darius said it himself—they won’t kill her quick. That means we have time.” His throat burnt as he said it, but he forced the words into being. “We need to use it.”

Hibiki jerked his arm free, glaring down at the table. His teeth clenched, his breath coming sharp. “So what, then? We wander the city hoping we trip over her chains?” “No,” Miyako said, finally raising her head. Her eyes were dark and hard. “We don’t search blind. We prepare. We make them come to us.” Ren frowned. “And how do we do that?” She sat back, folding her arms. “They’ve marked us already. That much is obvious. They’ll be watching, waiting for the next chance. So we give them one. But on our terms. Somewhere we can trap them, not the other way around.” Darius scoffed. “You think you can outplay people who’ve been pulling threads since before you were born?” “Do you have a better idea?” Miyako shot back, sharper than before. “Or do you want to bleed on this floor until they come back for you?”

The silence that followed was thick. Darius closed his mouth, his jaw tight, but he didn’t argue again. Ren took a slow breath, trying to force his thoughts into something solid. “First thing—we need coin. We don’t have enough to bribe, buy information, or keep ourselves alive long enough to get her back. Jobs at the Concordium will get us some, but not quick enough.” Hibiki muttered, “We’re already broke after gearing up. You think we can wait weeks while she’s—” He cut himself off, staring at the table. Miyako’s voice stayed flat. “We can’t wait. But we can take more dangerous jobs. Escort, guard duty, anything that pays heavy. Then we use it to buy information. Bribes open more doors than blades.”

Ren looked at Darius. “And you. You know people. You’ve heard things. Whatever you’ve been doing in this city, you can help us point in the right direction. You owe us that much.” The older man let out a slow breath. His swollen face shifted in what might have been a reluctant smirk. “Maybe I do. Maybe I can point you at a few rats who hear the whispers. But don’t think for a second I’ll be your map.” He winced as he shifted, hand pressing against his ribs. “I’ve seen too many who thought they could dance with the Quarter. They all ended in the dirt.”

Ren met his gaze without blinking. “Then we don’t end there. We get her back.” The table went quiet again, the only sound the distant clatter of mugs at the bar. Outside, rain began tapping faintly against the warped shutters, streaking down the glass in uneven lines. It made the room feel even smaller, as though the walls were closing in. Finally, Hibiki spoke again, his voice hoarse. “If we do this, we do it together. No more splitting. No more circles and signals. We walk in and we fight as one. Otherwise…” His hands clenched, nails biting into his palms. “…otherwise we’ll just lose another.”

Miyako nodded, her face still tight. “Agreed.” Ren pushed the mug away, the stale ale inside untouched. His chest ached, his hands were raw, but his voice came steady. “Then it’s decided. We take work, we gather coin, and we wait. The next time they come for us, we’ll be ready.” Darius laughed quietly, almost bitterly. “You’re either the bravest bastards I’ve met or the dumbest. Maybe both.” He lifted the flask to his lips, swallowing hard, and then set it down again. His swollen eye closed, his good one fixed on them. “Just don’t make me watch another one of you vanish.”

No one replied. The weight of Alice’s absence pressed against them like the damp air itself. Ren could feel it in every corner of the room, in every creak of the warped floorboards. But under it, beneath the grief and the anger, was something else—resolve. They would bleed, they would burn, but they would not stop. Not until Alice was back.