Beto looked out the window of the limousine to see nterns on the street lit up the road. Rolling down the window, he embraced the atmosphere of a new pce he had never been before. Meanwhile, Dankle was pying games on his bubble caster. Arcreen is the capital city of the Harlif race and home to the University of Biology and History, where some of the best schors of the empire live. The wooden houses and tiled roofs gave it a naturalistic look, and the only things that seemed to be electrically powered were city lights and vehicles.

  Dankle died in his game and looked out the window as well. “Wow, boss, I have never been here before. Also, why did you bring me here with you this time?” He asked with a hint of curiosity.

  “Barely anybody from the Capital has visited Arcreen. Humans and Harlifs still don’t have a good retionship, but they are very welcoming here. I also brought you here because you are more friendly looking, and if I brought the other two, everyone would start running in the other direction.”, Beto said, still watching the nterns glow up in the night.

  The limousine drove by many clubs full of different people ughing and smiling. The nightlife here was more accepted in Arcreen than in the Capital City. They soon arrived at a gorgeous hotel with vines growing around the wooden columns. And the interior had a massive lobby just from looking through its windows. The Limousine stopped at the front doors, and a Harlif bellhop who was part feline was waiting in front of the entrance, ready for all the bags that had to be carried to the rooms where they were registered.

  Dankle opened the limousine door and held it open for Beto, who followed swiftly after. Beto bowed towards the young Harlif, who bowed back. Dankle went to the trunk and helped the boy put all the luggage into a cart. Beto continued on his way to the main receptionist, who was doing a crossword puzzle, not noticing his entrance.

  Beto rang the little bell in front of her, making her ears perk up, startling her. She immediately put the pen down and sat up, showing her attention.

  “Sorry, sir! I was so caught up in the nightly puzzle! Welcome to the Hydrolen Hotel, where we respect any preference for being nocturnal or diurnal. What can I assist you with today?” She said while stumbling, her words being a bit embarrassed.

  Beto smiled to reassure her it was alright, “I am here for my two rooms under Jouvins Beto. I ordered two business sweets with room service for each.”

  The receptionist brushed through a giant book with its pages browning from its age. “Alrighty! You are on the rooftop penthouse with your two other companions. I will tell the Bellboy to bring your bags up when he returns. Thank you for staying with us, Mr. Beto.” She smiled at him, then quickly stopped, worried she would scare him with her fangs.

  Beto left with a nod and entered an elevator to the penthouse floor, where he was greeted with a terrace view of Arcreen and its beautiful forests. Some houses were even built into the trees, not wanting to chop them down. Beto walked against the railings that had fairy lights wrapped around them to his room. The door was made of wood and gss. On his bed was a care package and a pamphlet about Arcreen.

  As Beto was getting comfortable, he heard a light knock at the door. The bellboy had all three bags of luggage in his arms with a smile. Beto opened the door and helped, then tipped him a golden qorin coin, which made his eyes brighten up. Before he left, he gave Beto a little note left by Dankle.

  Hey boss, apparently Mitchel here is mute, so he can’t talk, so I gave him this note to tell you I’m gonna be at the club across the street with the limo driver (I still don’t know his name, I will ask him tonight). You are always welcome to join us for a drink or two.

  -Dankle

  “Thank you, Mitchel, I will call you again if I need anything else tonight.”. Beto said, folding the paper in half.

  Mitchel lifted the cap on his head and walked out with a skip in his step. Beto watched him leave and chuckled, walking towards the door curtains and covering the window for some privacy.

  Beto sat on the bed and opened his coat's side pocket, and grabbed another letter from the Head Mistress, reading it over.

  Dear Mr. Jouvins Beto,

  I, Head Researcher and Head Mistress Rochelle Spring, invite you to the Harlif University of Biology and History for a meeting about certain affairs. I would like to pay for any of your expenses and travel fees if you wish for options for different transportation. There are many things I wish to discuss with you in private, because I believe you and I have something in common that we need to learn and talk about further. I wait for your response!

  Headmistress Rochelle Spring.

  Beto y down and turned his head to the only window without its blinds down. Watching the stars dance across the night sky. This pce seemed like magic, even if this was the first time here, he felt at peace. Beto closed his eyes and drifted into a sleep.

  A soft, feminine voice echoed in Beto’s dreamscape, “Jouvins, you’re so silly to believe in my dreams. I could never be a star, and even if I could, who would take care of you and Mama while Dad's at work?”

  “You are an amazing singer and dancer. Your fashion is off the charts, even if it's drapes you’re wearing. I think the world should know the name Ager Beto! I will work hard for you so that you can achieve it!” A younger Jouvins' voice echoed.

  The girl's ughter was all he heard that night as a smile appeared on the sleeping man's face.

  Morning finally dawned among Arcreen, and all the nocturnal harlifs retreated for the morning. The sun's beam woke up Beto, shining into his eyes, while stretching he realized he, had fallen asleep in his suit. His dreams st night felt like he was reliving his past. Beto changed into a purple suit and walked out the door to see a Dankle asleep on the outdoor bench.

  Beto shook him, trying to wake him, “Dankle, Dankle, Dan! Wake up, it's morning.” Beto said, annoyingly still shaking him.

  Dankle jolted up with a surprised look. “Sorry, boss, there was a whole missing person thing st night. Don’t worry, as a gentleman I am, I made sure that all the scared girls went home safely.” He said with a tired yawn.

  “Well, get ready, hero of the night, we gotta go to school.” Beto chuckled

  Dankle gave an exaggerated look of disappointment when he heard the word school and headed into his room to get prepared. In no time, he came out only with a different tie and walked behind Beto, heading towards the elevator.

  The lobby was busier, and the receptionist and bellboy were gone for the day. The two walked up to the counter to tell the that room service was needed.

  “Penthouse suit, correct. Please tell me how the night shift I know that the bat can get lost in other things, and the bellboy is new. If he caused any trouble, please let me know.” The receptionist said with the most dignified voice.

  “No, sir, they were amazing, honestly, but, yes, room service at the penthouse, and no breakfast today, thank you.”, Beto said before walking away, heading towards the door.

  Dankle, on the other hand, could not stop staring at everyone. “Boss, did you see the receptionist's ears? Those are bigger than any rabbits I've seen before.”, he said enthusiastically.

  “Dankle, he is part hare, so yes, his ears are going to be bigger. Also, stop staring at people like that,” Beto grumbled.

  Dankle whispered, “Yes, boss.”

  A car pulled up from the university to drive them straight to their decring them as noble guests. Dankle opened the door for Beto and swiftly entered behind him. There was no communication between them and the driver, who took them straight to where they were supposed to be.

  The streets were full of different harlifs, some wearing suits while others were street vending. They even saw a bunch of schoolchildren following a teacher to a statue with little art books in their arms. One child, in particur, was jumping in every puddle she could with her bright red boots and yellow jacket.

  Dankle smiled, “You know, if the commoner section was like this back home, I bet it would be more peaceful.” He said.

  Beto stared out the opposite window, seeing a performer dance with a sweetheart, making him remember what the revolution was for. So everyone could live like this.

  They eventually drove past students carrying different assortments. One was juggling books while someone behind them looked like they were holding a chemistry set. The car continued to drive up a hill, and Dankle sank into his seat.

  “Ugh, school”, he mumbled.

  The driver spoke for the first time, “We are almost at the Main building, Mr. Beto, and car car-sick guest.”

  The car took a left turn and soon was shadowed by a giant building. There were statues of the demigod of preservation, Feysi, who looked like a squirrel with a scorpion's tail. A tall Harlif woman stood in front of the main entrance with a sour look on her face as the car came to a stop. Two other employees walked out from behind her and opened the door for Beto and Dankle. The two stepped down as they were being looked down on.

  “Welcome to Harlif University of Biology and Historical Studies. I am Kiel Head, Mistress Rochelles' personal assistant. Come now, you are te by two minutes.” She said with a huff.

  Beto and Dankle looked at each other with a confused look on their faces, and hurried behind her, walking through a rge hallway full of exhibits of different creatures and biological matter.

  “We here at the University believe that the vessels we live in are more than just that, but the blueprints of existence itself. Our main goal is to study every vessel there is to find cures and immunities to help those who ck them.”

  The group continued walking down the halls, seeing different csses being held, until they entered a library with Feysi carved into it.

  Kiel opened the door with the smell of old pages flooding their senses.

  “This Library is where we keep all our scientific findings, and hold historical records of prior events that took pce in the empire. The main building's history csses are on the third floor.”, she said tiredly.

  Leading them through a maze made of shelves, the group noticed many students studying at many dead ends. Eventually, they reached the end of the maze, which was another bookshelf.

  “This shelf is very important due to it holding every resource that our head Mistress has provided. Some of these are not even published to the public,” Kiel said with a stern voice, reaching for a blue book.

  There was a clicking sound, and then a secret passageway that led down a narrow hallway. Kiel walked forward with her hands behind her back as Beto and Dankle followed, amazed. There were many doors full of secrets and projects led by Rochelle. Kiel stopped at a door with the title Scientist of the Future, Rochelle Spring, which made Beto grumble.

  Kiel ignored it and proceeded to open the door. “Miss Rochelle, your visitors are behind me,” she said quietly and somewhat cowardly, a whole one-eighty from her former self.

  The Harlif women sat at her desk dead dead-faced into reading papers, ignoring her assistant. Kiel walked in, her tail between her legs, and Beto followed, telling Dankle to stay outside. Kiel stared at Miss Rochelle, who was still being unresponsive, reading multiple documents at once.

  Her assistant's ears fell to the side of her head as she sighed. Beto walked in front of her and looked down at the scientist, who was now murmuring every sentence on the page. All he could think was that this was the downside of being so brilliant, which was also being oblivious.

  “Mrs. Rochelle Spring, I am Jouvins Beto. You summoned me from the Capital City with an invitation,” he said in a ft tone, yet this got her attention.

  Rochelle stopped muttering and slowly looked up, her expressionless face soon sprang to life as a smile appeared.

  Rochelle's voice went from low and faded to a high-pitched and peppy tone. It was as if the person sitting in that chair disappeared, “My, my, all the way out from the Capital. I’m gd my invite reached you. Kiel, I’m sorry I ignored you. I was too deep in thought. Can you please leave me and Mr. Jouvins in my office while you take his assistant on the grand tour? I’m guessing the avian exhibits will be his cup of tea.”

  Kiel bowed her head and walked away, noticing Dankles head poking out the door. The sheepdog rolled her eyes, knowing this was going to be a long tour. The room now belonged to both of them. Rochelle got up, walked, and walked over to a water pitcher. She gently poured two gsses of water. And brought them over, pcing the cups on her desk in front of Beto.

  The harlif sat back down at her chair keeping eye contact, “I believe you are a smart man Mr. Jouvins, so I will just get to my main reason we are in this room together. Please sit. I promise the rumors about canine Harlifs bite are false,” she said with a pyful hum.

  Beto complied and pulled the seat out in front of him, his gaze still fixated on her. He reached out for the gss and held it in his hands, not daring to drink it.

  The Harlif took notice, “You should be wary of me. I understand why, just like I know every medication at the moment, to save a life. I also know every poison that can take one, but you shouldn’t worry. After all, you and I want to keep the same thing safe, so please tell me where she is?” The pyful voice turned sinister in the blink of an eye.

  Beto tried to shake her off. “I don’t know who you are referring to. Perhaps you contacted the wrong person?”

  “Oh, no, Mr. Jouvins, you are the right person, the st person to see Subject 1746, or how she likes to refer to herself as Crimson,” she smiled and grabbed a sheet a paper. “As a researcher, I look at everything I can learn in my pastime, and that includes people, too. You, Mr. Jouvins, have a fine resume. Born in the slums of the Capital, you gained your riches through community employment. You even had a sister who succeeded from your efforts, Aglera Beto, who became a model.” The woman pulled out a magazine underneath the pile of papers with a distinct figure. Beto knew well that his sister was on the front cover.

  Beto gred at her with distaste, clenching his cup. “Why are you bringing my dead sister into this? Wasn’t this meeting about Crimson?” he asked with disgust and frustration.

  The Harlif smiled and rested her head in her hand while leaning against the table, “So you know why you are here? But this bit of information should show you how much I know, like how you were not only the st person to see Crimson, but you never signed in back through the gates of the Capital until ter that evening or the next day. Which means you probably saw her, and maybe even hid her?” Rochelle smiled with amusement as she picked at the man in front of her, but then reassured him, even giving him an offer.

  “Don’t worry, I am not your enemy. If anyone is, it’s those pigs we call the royal court, and that king of ours? The cameras in this part of the university are only accessible to me, and are changed every few hours with fresh ones. Yet I feel you won't trust me, so why don’t I tell you everything I know in exchange for my theory of where Crimson is? If I guess correctly, you will confirm my hypothesis, and I will give you the information?”

  “I believe you in the privacy of this room, and you have a deal on that.” Beto smiled cockily back now, putting his cup on the table.

  Rochelle spread out 5 pages of notes on the table in front of him.m each page was filled top to bottom with her handwriting. She chuckled and began, “Crimson was st seen in front of boratory 49 on Tractor Highway, which is the closest one towards the Capital. Yet she would go nowhere near there. So let's look at nearby pces. She is not in Arcreen or Redwood, meaning she hiding in smaller towns.”

  Beto gnced at the final page to her right, where it said in bold letters on the bottom: Hollybrook. Rochelle took notice and chuckled, wanting to py with his emotions a little more, she continued.

  “Not in the Sage Woods, not the vilge of Shimerscale or Concorn, so I can only guess the one pce close enough for both of you is Hollybrook. Am I correct Mr. Jouvins? Because if not, not, I do have the evidence to prove it.”, she said, said, staring directly at Beto.

  Silence filled the room as he was trying to figure out a way to get out of this. A single drop of sweat streaked down his face. If she found out about this hiding spot, it would be catastrophic for not only his business but for Vincent as well. The sweat droplet fell off his cheek, nding in the cup. Rochelle's ear twitched, as her smile went into a somewhat scary grin.

  “I’m right, aren’t I?” she sang with her tail now wagging in her chair.

  Beto sighed, “I still want to know your proof.”, he said coldly.

  Her tail stopped wagging, and a more excited expression appeared on her face as she grabbed the paper beside her right hand, and read the notes out loud, “The next day after the boratory burned down, and Crimson went missing, Hollybrook's popution wen’t up by one. I looked for any newborns on the same day, and there were none, only a single person who moved in. Then I thought that it would be hard to move into Hollybrook. They aren’t kind to outsiders, especially from the Capital. So I dug deeper into their history, and I found something intriguing. A Jouvins Beto helped, no, saved them from their harshest winter seen when the Capital denied them. There was also another instant where someone who wanted from the Capital disappeared from right under the Royal Guards' noses. The sniper assassin Gss shot had something simir happen to him, and the Hollybrooks popution went up by one the next day after his bounty was released. If I put all three instances together, I can connect the dots perfectly. You are lucky the Capital practically abandoned Hollybrook, otherwise you would’ve been caught years ago.” The Harlif proudly extended her arm, handing over the sheet of paper.

  Reading over the paper, Beto grumbled, “You are correct about everything in this paper. I feel it’s safe to conform with you, especially from how you said that only you can access the cameras in the room and how you despise the Royal Court.” To prove he trusted her, Beto took a sip of the water.

  “You are correct. I hate them. The only reason I work for them is to keep funding for my most expensive project. Every time I saw that girl for her Check-ups, I wanted to unshackle her. You had the balls to go save her though, so I thank you, but I need her here, because she might have an answer for me.”. The harlif's cocky demeanor shifted into a solemness.

  “The rooms in this part of the facility are only Me and Keil can enter, and the books on the shelf are off limits to students. There's only a specific time the doors here will even open. So you are locked in here with me.”

  “What do you mean you need answers?” Beto asked.

  Rochelle sighed and got up from her seat. “Why don't I just show you?” she responded, walking to the door, swiping it with a key card that was on the nyard around her neck.

  Jouvins followed her down the dimly lit and narrow hallway. Every few steps they would take, there would be a door leading to another room with Rochelle's private experiments.

  “Do you know why there are so many parties looking for Crimson?” Rochelle quizzed Beto, only for him to remain silent.

  “The kingdom wants a weapon that can stop the Imperial Empire's march towards Magiarden. The king wants to separate us from the Empire soon, and if there is a war, then she would make a great soldier. She continued until they reached the end of the hall with a giant red sign saying Keep out.

  The doors at the end of the hall were completely different, being made of stainless steel. There was a thermometer on the side of the room that was at freezing point. Rochelle used a different key card this time. As the dual doors opened, a cold breeze chilled Beto to his core, but Rochelle was unfazed as she walked into the blue-lit room. Beto followed her to see something that shook him to his core. His eyes widened in disbelief. He was gazing at a Harlif frozen in a tube of ice; he was also part canine. Rochelle pressed her hand against the tube, staring at the man.

  “Meet Head Scientist of Biology Lawrence Spring, my husband and work partner.” Rochelle slightly hummed, keeping her back turned.

  In response, Beto walked forward beside her and introduced himself, “Hello Lawrence, my name is Jouvins Beto. I am a humble guest at your school.”

  Rochelle smiled at Beto's introduction and gnced at him, but did not take her hand off the tube. “You may think this is some freaky, but it’s not, I promise you. This was his final wish before I froze him. Cryostasis is the only thing that can prevent his illness from spreading. You see it, don’t you?”

  At a closer gnce, Beto saw vines wrapping around his legs and upper body. “What the fuck is that?” he said nervously.

  “In ancient writing, they called it Eden's Curse. Where the virus would tch onto somebody's Aura Gate, becoming tainted and causing the host of the virus to grow vines from their body until they turn into nothing more than a bush of their former selves. Humans can get it too, but it works differently, tching onto vital organs instead of an Aura Gate, like the heart or lungs. Meaning humans die faster.” Rochelle expined with a ft expression on her face, still looking at Beto.

  “Is it-?” Before Beto could finish, she interrupted him.

  “No, worse of all, it's not genetic or contagious either. Meaning one morning, you could just be infected. From ancient writings, we found out there was a cure that had never been documented. I have spent the past fifteen years trying to figure out a cure. Finding different species of creatures and pnts simir to its genes, with all failing.” She paused, then turned towards Beto, taking her hand off the gss this time.

  “Crimson is my st hope. So, please allow me to hide her here. If she is not the cure, I will let her go when everything dies down.” Rochelle offered, her eyes showing sincerity.

  Beto responded coldly, “And if she is, you will keep her imprisoned forever?”.

  The woman stood there quietly as the room grew colder before she responded, “Yes. Wouldn’t that be a good thing, though, for all of mankind? To save the lowly creatures that the angels and demigods have abandoned long ago, this is my purpose in this life: to find the one cure to save us. One life for millions. It’s not a bad deal.”

  Rochelle watched as Beto turned and walked away from her, and Lawrence opened the metal doors opened as. As she heard his footsteps fade away into the hall, she stared back at her husband once the doors closed shut.

  “My darling, it’s ok, I will save you.”, she said, pcing her hand back on the tube. It was so cold her hand turned a bright red on contact, but she didn’t care.