The car pulled into a more secluded part of Paris, which made Ein uneasy. "Are you sure we are going the right way?"
"Don't worry, little brother. This area may seem weird, but it's actually rather calm. Many people who prefer to keep their businesses secretive stay in this part of Paris." Ein looked out the window at the winded-down part of Paris. "It only feels eerie because it's nighttime, but during the day, this part of Paris is absolutely lovely, in my opinion.
"This is more like a small town on its own."
"This is Le Village Saint Paul. It holds quite a few things for tourists and people to enjoy while in France."
"Does anyone actually live here?" Niko opens his mouth to speak but pauses. It seems he doesn't know the answer to that question either. "So Carlile doesn't even live here?"
"I don't know where Carlile stays, but if we're being brought here, then most likely, this is a hangout of some sort."
"Sir Carlile s'y rend souvent, généralement pour faire du shopping ou flirter avec les femmes qu'il rencontre. Il est devenu célèbre pour ses habitudes de coureur de jupons dans notre ville." The driver says. Ein doesn't know French well but was able to catch wind of the word womanizer.
"Sound familiar Niko?" Niko glares at Ein unamused. Ein clears his throat. "are we close yet?"
"I can feel the energy, so I imagine so." The vehicle stops short of a small path.
"C'est aussi loin que je peux t'emmener. Le chemin vous mènera à l'entrée de la ville de Sir Carlile." Niko gets out of the vehicle and waits for Ein to get out.
"Why did he stop here?" Ein asks, confused. "Couldn't he have gone any further?"
"He can't see past here. To him, it looks like the normal part of this town, but to us, the path leads into a forest. He only knows about the path cause Carlile let him know so others could find him if needed."
"So we can see it, and he can't because?"
"Our DNA, all magical beings have a mana core that connects together and creates almost this weird chemical reaction so we can see each other's hideouts or hidden paths."
"So, to the naked human eye, this will look like we're walking through a large building?"
"Exactly." Ein looks back at the man in the vehicle before looking back at the path leading into a forest. Before Ein can ask anything else, Niko steps forward, and Ein watches as his body goes through this clear-like substance that closes back up once his brother is inside.
"That's... so weird."
"You haven't even seen weird now; come on, we can't delay this any further." Ein takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, stepping through the clear-like substance, and his skin crawls at the feeling of what he could only describe as gelatin and water going against his body. When he opens his eyes, the town behind them is gone and replaced with more forest, and his clothes are completely dry.
"I never want to feel that again." He shudders, unable to stop thinking about the feeling of the barrier.
"You'll get used to it." Niko leads the way, following the path deeper into the woods. The sounds within the woods were enough to scare anyone to death and make them wish they were home snuggled up in bed. Off in the distance, Ein could barely make out the sounds of gears.
"Niko," Ein catches up to him, "what type of place are you taking me to?"
"Consider it a more science engineering-like place. Basically, where some of the geeks and loners like to live to be in their own worlds and focus on their work and creations." Ein stares in awe as a city starts to come into view.
Most of the buildings were built out of working gears and engineering projects with unique designs that shouldn't be possible. "That building is hanging off the side of a mountain! With no support! Those horses aren't actually horses, but they are made out of-" Ein reaches out to touch one and immediately pulls his hand back as he watches the surface of the horse's neck ripple. "Water?" Niko stands nearby with his arms crossed, watching as Ein explores.
"Taking everything in?"
"THERE ARE PEOPLE WALKING UPSIDE DOWN ON GLASS PATHWAYS!" Niko chuckles and places a hand on Ein's shoulder.
"Carlile described this place to me a couple times, and I have to admit the buildings are all engineered with a mixture of science, which is cool." The cobblestone beneath them lifts up into a winding path, almost causing them to fall off.
"Where does this go?" Niko shrugs.
"Only one way to find out." They head up the winding path that leads into a clear, almost dome-like place on a large platform in the sky. The doors open and a few hybrid animals are inside getting checked out by a man in a black coat and scrappy jeans that are covered in what Ein could only assume were different chemicals. The man's hair was dyed half white and half black, a Cruella-type style. "Carlile."
The man gets to his feet and removes the goggles that nobody noticed he had on. "Well, well, if it isn't my old pal. Surprised you found me so easily." He smiles, seemingly friendly.
"I had a sneaking suspicion you knew I was coming as you can catch glimpses of the future, and you sent that chauffeur to meet us at the airport." Carlile scoffs and mumbles under his breath.
"Meine Güte, du musst mich nicht ausrufen. Wann hast du mich so gut kennengelernt?" He goes up to Niko, and they hug briefly. "Alright, since you're here, what can I do for you? I only got bits and pieces of why you might be here."
"We're here about your mentor, Darren." The smile leaves Carlile's face rather quickly.
"Why bring up that man? He disappeared quite a long time ago." He says irritatedly.
"Because we're trying to locate Nicolette," Ein says. This catches Carlile's attention before he starts to laugh.
"Well, aren't you ambitious! You really want to get yourself involved in this feud?" Ein and Niko look at each other and then back at Carlile.
"What feud?" Carlile's expression changes to one of surprise.
"You mean you don't know the feud between the Lyiora's, Wolfier's, and the Andrew's?" They shake their heads in unison. "Oh, I can't wait to tell you guys all about this. Take a seat. This could take a while." They take a seat in nearby chairs, and Carlile grabs a few bottles. When he sits down, he smashes the bottles down onto a small table, which creates smoke. "This is my favorite way to tell stories." the different colored smokes turn into three different people.
"Who are they?" Ein asks, and Niko shushes him, hinting at him to keep quiet and just listen.
Carlile starts to explain the smokey figures before them. "This is Ronan, William, and Robert. Ronan is your grandfather, William is Nicolette's grandfather, and Robert is your mother's father, so that makes him your other grandfather."
"Our mother never talks about him."
"Yeah, well, your grandfather Robert sort of started a big problem, and I mean like big." The smoke envelopes the room as the figures grow to the size of ordinary teenage boys. "The three of them used to be the best of friends a wonderful trio like you Ein, Charles, and Leroy. They were practically inseparable." The smoke changes to different scenes as the story progresses.
"So what caused them to split?" Niko smacks Ein on the back of the head.
"Just shut up and listen, will ya?"
"Back when William was only sixteen when he married a woman by the name of Melody. It was an arranged marriage by William's father, but he respected and loved his wife. He wasn't cold-hearted like his father at the time. Ronan and Robert were happy for William, but as time passed and William was further influenced by his father, he began to change. He craved power, power that he couldn't achieve on his own. He began studying about Nyx, a piece of Death's soul."
Ein instantly recognized the name Nyx from the encounter years ago between Nicolette and William. He couldn't forget that day even if he wanted to.
"Ronan became worried about William and his obsession and tried to talk some sense into him, and that made William shut the world out even further. At eighteen, Melody gave birth to their son Atlas, but to William's dismay, Atlas did not carry Nyx nor the power he was looking for. A part of him resented Melody for this, but a part of him still cared for her. As William fell deeper and deeper into his obsession led on by his father, Melody became close to your mother's father, Robert."
"Don't tell me he..." Carlile only nods, and Ein's expression changes to one of shame.
"William caught the two sharing a kiss and that infuriated him. It infuriated him so much that he decided to kill Melody for betraying him. Every day for an entire month, six-year-old Atlas brought tea to his mother, unaware it was laced with poison, and at the end of that month, she had passed away. Nobody dared to question her death, but Ronan and Robert knew William had something to do with it. Ronan had Melody's body secretly autopsied, which is where they discovered the poison in her system."
Ein felt his stomach churn. William went as far as killing his wife. Who knows what else he was capable of.
"Ronan immediately devised a plan to take down William as soon as possible, but the plan failed. When it was Ronan against William, Ronan had underestimated William, and William gained the upper hand, poisoning him. Ronan tried to reason with him, but it's like the part of William that used to be human was no longer there. All that William cared about was power and taking down anyone that got in his way, even if that meant killing those he once cared for."
"And that started the feud?" Carlile nods.
"To this day, Ronan has been trying to keep an eye on William and keep him from getting out of control, but nobody knows what happened to Robert. It's like he just disappeared when everything went downhill." The green smoke figure vanishes, leaving the purple and blue against each other.
"If William is able to harness control over Nyx, what exactly will happen?" Ein asks with a shakey voice.
"I can imagine he'll use her power to take the world into his grasp to control it fully somehow. Death is not something to be underestimated, and neither are you." Carlile says while gesturing towards Ein.
"Me?" Ein is shocked. "What do you mean?"
"You are the embodiment of life. You are Nicolette's counter. Your powers may not be at their full potential, but once they are, you might be the only one able to put a stop to William when Nicolette awakens, and her soul merges with Nyx's." Ein sits in silence, twiddling his thumbs, and Niko says nothing, just keeping a watchful eye on his brother.
"Can Nicolette be saved?" Ein asks with a hint of dread. "Will I have to... end her?" Carlile gives a pitiful look.
"I can tell the future, but only certain bits and pieces that are shown to me, and unless you and Nicolette's fate is shown to me, I cannot give you an answer. I want to believe more than anything that you'll be able to successfully put a stop to William and live the life you always wanted with Nicolette, but that is not for me to decide."
"I never asked for this to happen; none of us did! Where is Darren's lab, Carlile!? I need to get her out of there!" Carlile sighs and places his hands on Ein's shoulders.
"I don't know, but what I do know is that it's most likely in Russia, so William can keep a close eye on her development... Ein... please don't do anything rash. I know this fate is the last thing you want, but fate exists for a reason, and you need to accept that things may not go the way you want." Ein clenches his jaw.
"Even if it takes me years on end, I will put everything back in order." Ein isn't ready to back down, not yet.