Everyone had gathered in the alley, including Ciel. Holmes crouched down and examined the ground, where there were drag marks from a door. "Red, you said you caught a glimpse of him carrying some sort of key, didn't you?" he asked to confirm, and I nodded. Upon hearing this, he smiled before turning fully round.
"Here's my hypothesis," he began, placing both hands behind his back, "He has an Everafter in the shape of a key that can summon a door wherever he wants, and when the door is opened, it can lead anywhere—like a simple form of teleportation." Hearing that made everything make sense now; he really was a brilliant detective.
"That makes him very hard to catch…" Ciel muttered to herself before lifting her head and looking at us, "They're the same as you, aren't they? Do you have any idea how to defeat him?"
"We haven't seen his abilities first-hand; if we do, I'll try to analyse them," Alice said, glancing at me—who was unusually quiet. As one might expect from the attentive Alice, she immediately sensed that something was troubling me. "We'll meet again this evening. There's something I'd like to discuss with Red, just the two of us."
Before Ciel could say anything, Holmes's hand touched her shoulder. "Alright, be careful on your way," he said with a smile. They then watched us walk home, leaving the three of them there. "I actually have something I'd like to discuss with you too, Miss Morgan." Hearing that made her raise her eyebrows in surprise.
"Am I intruding?" Robin asked, as he didn't want to be the third wheel on a scorching day like this. "If so, I'll make my exit."
"Not at all, you're a member of the Pyxis team after all," said Holmes, still with a smile on his face. "Miss Morgan, would you be willing to assist us on this mission? Information from the police about him would be very helpful to us." Hearing that startled Ciel.
Without a moment's hesitation, she replied, "No." That answer surprised Robin, but not Holmes, who had seen this coming. "Don't take offence, Mr. Holmes; it's not because of you, but because of them," she said before looking towards the road where Alice and I had gone, and then at Robin.
"I've sworn to myself I won't ever work with the Fables, and nothing can make me do otherwise," the reply still made Holmes smile calmly. "And don't get the wrong idea, I'm giving you information about Gilles because you asked for it, not because of them, the Fables."
"That's racist," Robin retorted with an amused smile at her declaration.
Hearing that, Ciel immediately became aggressive. "You know nothing about me," he snapped, and the atmosphere grew even more tense. He walked towards Robin, who was leaning against the cold wall of the alley. Ciel's eyebrows furrowed as he looked closely at Robin's face. "I recognise you... You're Robin Hood, aren't you?! The fugitive still being hunted by the police even now!"
"You know me?" Robin smiled defiantly. "It's a shame I didn't bring a pen to give you my autograph." Hearing this, Ciel grew even more irritated.
"What's the meaning of this, Mr. Holmes?! First you befriend a troubled Fable, and now it turns out you're friends with a Fable who's a fugitive as well!" Ciel snapped, expecting a reasonable explanation from someone like him.
Holmes sighed before saying, "Ever heard the saying: the enemy of your enemy is your friend?" Hearing that still did nothing to appease Ciel.
"You said I know nothing about you—but there's one thing I know for certain," Robin stepped closer, and this immediately caught Ciel's attention as his emotions were still running high.
"Huh? What on earth do you know about me?!" She tilted her head slightly and their gazes locked.
"You're a racist bitch who thinks we're all the same; you don't even try to understand us." Robin's verbal onslaught sent Ciel exploding—in an instant, a fist flew towards Robin's stomach but was deftly caught.
From thin air a arrow of green light materialised; she swiftly grasped it firmly and hurled it towards Ciel's shoulder—GRAB—her hand caught Robin's just in time.
At the tip of the arrow was a suspicious liquid; they struggled with all their strength, holding each other's hands. "Enough, fighting here won't solve anything and only feeds your egos." said Holmes, trying to break up the fight.
"Shut up!" they shouted at Holmes in unison; that was the only thing they could agree on.