Whilst we were outside, the show had already begun with the red curtain slowly opening; Rapunzel couldn't stop fidgeting with her feet, so eager was she to watch the play for the first time—she was just like a little child.
From behind the curtain, the audience could see a tower made of plywood before a man finally stepped onto the stage; he had brown hair and green eyes. "Oh! What is with this tower? Why is it in the middle of nowhere?" the man began to act, and in one of the audience seats, a woman gaped in surprise.
"MR. SULLIVAN!"
The actor's name was called out, causing him to turn his head immediately; the voice sounded very familiar to him. The spectator who had called out stood up from her seat and walked through the crowd, "Excuse me! Sorry—let me through."
She walked down the steps, her heart pounding with every step until she finally reached the front of the stage. She leapt and, with all her might, tried to climb onto the stage; she was struggling to lift her body when she felt a hand grasping Rapunzel's.
When she turned, she saw Sullivan helping her up onto the stage. The moment her feet touched the stage floor—in an instant, Rapunzel pounced and gave the man a tight hug. "Mr. Sullivan! I've missed you so much!"
"Rapunzel? Did your mom let you out—?" Before he could get an answer—BANG—the door was flung open, revealing Alice and me trying to make a getaway. The scene on stage didn't surprise us too much, as we'd already guessed Rapunzel would do something like that.
"Oh? Red! Alice!" She called out, waving her hands enthusiastically; from a distance I could see the broad smile she was flashing. "We've found him! He's my teacher!"
"Congratulations…" Alice and I gave a half-hearted round of applause; we'd done a bit of research beforehand and discovered that being a teacher was actually just a side job for him—his real profession was as a theatre actor.
I turned around and saw the authorities being tried to be freed by others, "Quick, go through the emergency exit!" I shouted to Rapunzel and Sullivan, making the atmosphere serious again.
"But isn't that only for evacuations—?!" Before she could even finish her innocently stupid question, Sullivan had already dragged her off towards the emergency exit; she seemed to understand the situation here, and I was grateful for that.
"If we weren't assigned to look after her, I'd have smacked her with my shotgun."
"Now, slow there."
Alice took out her card and inserted it near the door; a block of ice rose from the floor, blocking the entrance. "Let's get going too," she said before running towards the emergency exit, with me following behind. We left the theatre, which was still filled with hundreds of bewildered people.
A cool breeze brushed against my skin and we saw the two of them being stopped by the police. "Get down!" I shouted, and Rapunzel quickly pulled Sullivan to the ground—BANG—Bullets whizzed past, hitting several people. "You two get out of here! We'll handle this."
"Sullivan, look after her, and if anything happens, I'll hang you from Clock Tower," Alice continued, and that made Sullivan swallow hard as he could sense the seriousness in her words. He nodded before leading Rapunzel away; soon after, we heard the sound of footsteps as a crowd approached.
We looked around and realised we were already surrounded by the police; from behind the crowd, a figure emerged—a woman with navy-coloured hair in a pixie cut, contrasting sharply with her bright blue eyes. "Fables…" she growled with hatred.
"Finally, a non-blonde female," I groaned, and the woman showed no sign of friendliness whatsoever, with her piercing gaze and her hand already on the pistol in her belt.
"Oh? Ciel! We meet again~" Alice greeted her in a teasing tone; we'd met this person more often than the doctor—she harboured a deep hatred for Fables like us, but she was fun to tease. She was perhaps the only person who hated Fables yet was still liked by Alice; I myself didn't know why.
"Ciel, would you like to join us for dinner again after this?" I asked, not letting this opportunity slip by. Several police officers were surprised to see us looking so friendly; we'd done it on purpose to ruin the image of London's biggest Fables-hater.
"Don't act as if we're close, Fables!" She shouted, full of frustration and exasperation, but behind this ridiculous interaction, we were actually thinking of getting past this point, because after all, Ciel's abilities cannot be taken lightly—she herself can hold her own against the two of us without using Everafter.