[Seven-Minute Semblance] GODSFORRENT & FIMBULWINTER

FIMBULWINTER || Chapter 21 - Kiel Alf Whitdur

"Bakit ka nandito?" asked Alice.

"I need to talk to Jule."

"Why?"

"Remember our ship?"

"Hemlock?"

"No, Joyehark? FuJo? We'll think of their ship name later. I need to talk to Jule in secret!"

"Why are you panicking?! May nangyari ba?"

I stood still. "I am calm. I had too much cake and I got excited seeing the stage decorated for tomorrow's play."

Alice grimaced. "Sasabihin ko kay Sir Henry na libangin sina Kuya Kiel at Edward para masolo mo si Kuya Jule."

"That's all I ask, thank you!"

Alice clicked her tongue and went to the backstage. I waited at the dais. A few moments later, I saw Jule and Alice heading near the exit. Jule's arm was around Alice's shoulder so it could only mean one thing: he's threatening the poor girl.

They talked for a few moments.

Come on now, Alice. Give me my turn.

My turn came after Alice pissed Jule off and Jule walked away. Jule noticed me staring at him. I waved my hand.

"Ciao," I said. "Ciao, ciao."

Jule was so excited to see me, he marched all the way to the dais and grabbed my collar. What a time to be alive. "Let's talk," he hissed, dragging me outside.

We were sat at a bench.

"Who's the last victim in the Mad Hatter's Death Game?" he asked, glaring at me.

I placed my bunny bag on my lap and played with it. "I don't know. I'm the Mad Hatter, I'm not a soldier in the front line. I delegate tasks, and let my men do all the dirty work. If I didn't know who did it, I would not be implicated."

"Then why would you send me a message just to say you'd kill Futhark tomorrow?"

My hand froze in midair. I turned to Jule. "Interesting. I received the same message too."

His expression changed. "Who would send the two of us the same message..." he muttered, thinking.

Time? No. Time was uninvolved with Kiel Alf Whitdur.

Jule raised his hand, waving and flicking his fingers in the air. His gestures conjured images in my head and my imagination carried me to a lunar planetarium where ideas and words shone like stars, and Jule was the astronaut guiding me.

It took me back to the days when he'd take me to different adventures.

"The sender could be someone connected to the both of us," Jule said, snapping his fingers repeatedly, like a tic.

In each snap, a list of names appeared in the space between us. A mini-galaxy of names floated in front of Jule, and in front of me, another galaxy of all the names of all the people I've met and have known.

The stars of the names connected into networks and chains of people we both know, meeting in the middle, narrowing down to seven names, with one particular name shining the brightest.

"No," Jule said, striking the name down. He angrily turned to me, his nostrils flaring. "If you think I'll fall for your trap, then you're an idiot."

The dark planetarium walls broke and shattered like glass, bringing me back to the real world.

"What?" I asked, still feeling tingly from our voyage from space.

"You want me to think that you're also a victim, when in fact this is just a part of your plan!"