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The Mighty Nien heads into Blumenthal, a city where Caleb grew up. They enter at night, the purpose for them coming is to find Natán gem, a spy for the gentleman. He has information about Trent Ikithons plans for the dodecahedron and the tripod. They enter and find the meeting point, and scope it out, for their meeting is in two days. They enter an inn with a bar. They get 3 rooms. They spit for the night. Nott and Caleb go into the first room, Caduceus and Fjord take the next room and the girls take the one down at the end of the hall. They all went to bed that night. Caleb couldn’t sleep and stare up at the ceiling he started to think. He had already been nervous from the trip into the city and lucky the others didn’t notice that he was shaking. When they were around he could muster up enough strength to stop but now he was shaking up a storm. His body was numb and he could see his hands shaking even if he held onto a bedpost for support. By this time Nott was sound asleep she did not know he was even still awake. He stumbled out of bed and opened the door into the hallway. He did this not stealthily. He walked to the water closet (bathroom) and closed the door behind him.
Fjord looked up after being startled awake from the shut of a door. He heard shifting in the hallway. Fjord, not wanting to wake up, Caduceus got out of bed as quietly as he could. He slowly opened the door to see the back of Caleb walking down the hall. What fjord noticed was unfamiliar to him, Caleb was shaking. Not like he did in the swamp or at the docks at Dark Toe but he could see his legs shake as he made his way down the hallway. Fjord waited 2 minutes to see if he was out for a midnight pee break. When Caleb did not come down the hallway he started to worry.
Caleb entered a dirty bathroom. There were 2 stalls and one sink which was a bucket of water in the corner. A mirror hung on the wall by the sink. Caleb stared at himself, touched his face disapprovingly, and let out a sigh. His face is almost bearded now, which was a look he did not enjoy so much, it reminded him of his father. Caleb took off his coat and placed it on the bench next to the barrel, then started to unwrap his arms. The many scares and markings of the torture he once endured still showing strongly across the arms. Then he wet his face and from the soap, Jester had given him a long time ago scrubbed it into his beard. It was not a bubble soap so it made no difference to his look. Caleb tried to shave but when the knife got closer it was too hard. His hands were shaking, he could not stop. He dropped the knife into the sink. Caleb then grabs another knife in his pouch and tries again. He razed the second knife in the air, his hand hanging over the barrel and face ready to be shaved. Suddenly, the door creaks open, Caleb tries once more to shave, he couldn't his hands drop the knife, his hands went to his face and he fell to his knees.
Fjord’s eyes went wide as he saw Caleb. Knife and all, he thought he was cutting into his own arm. But when he saw Caleb drop the knife he was confused but confident that the man he knew for many months now was not that kind of person. He watched as Caleb went to his knees, fjords heart dropped. Fjord bolted over to Caleb’s side, and put his hands on his shoulders, and turned Caleb so he could see Fjord. Fjord sees tears flowing down Caleb’s face and his eyes, hands, arms, his whole body was shaking. Fjord immediately takes Caleb in for a hug and says
“It’s going to be alright, ok.” In a soothing voice trying to calm Caleb down.
Fjord then asks “why, why? Are you here?”
Caleb replies weakly “ I don’t know but I felt like I was going to puke then I saw myself and thought I needed a shave.”
Fjord- “Well I don’t think you need a shave Caleb, I think you look great.”
Caleb- “ I know, but when I looked in the mirror I looked like my father. It doesn’t matter anyway I can’t shave do u see me?”
Fjord- “ Yeah about that, why are you shaking?”
Caleb- “ I’m worried about T-t-Trent finding me and then torturing…. you... guys and doing what he did to me again,”
Fjord looks down at Caleb’s arms “ do you mean this?”
Caleb- “ no… no.. he corrupted my memory and made me see things that weren’t there and that didn’t happen, which led me to kill the people I loved the most.”
Fjord- “ whatever happened to you in the past, is not going to happen again, ok, I will personally make sure of it, and I hope one day you’ll trust me enough with your story.”
Caleb- “ you would protect me?”
Fjord- “ yeah why wouldn’t I?”
Caleb- “ because.. well… I don’t know”
Fjord- “ I will be here to protect you and so will the others”
Caleb- “ but what if you need protection from me…?”
Fjord- “ we will figure out a way to save you, always”
Caleb- “ thank you”
Fjord- “now for that shave?!”
Fjord reaches and grabs the dagger that is beside Caleb’s leg. Fjord starts to shave Caleb’s somewhat beard off into a clean shave. When Fjord Finishes Caleb whispered
“Thank you.”
“You're surely welcome! If you feel nervous again tell me okay, we can stop or go somewhere not in the open. I know this is stressful for you but remember we have your back and we won’t let you fall.”
“I will”
Fjord walks towards the door then hears.
“Do you want to know the truth about my past?”
Fjord turns around
Caleb tells fjord the whole story.