"That was a close call, with that photographer," Deimos said. "We will have to always make sure that he is not in close earshot the next time that we say anything."

"Ah, ah, but there was no harm done really, was there, Dei? I mean, we were only talking about Ms Wri-"

Deimos almost crashed into Narcisse as they stopped, both mid-sentence and mid-step, staring off into the distance. Deimos tried to look over their shoulder, but then instead pushed past slightly, stopping when part of his cloak got caught up on a button on Narcisse's sleeve. After untangling it he looked to see that they were staring down one of the staircases leading to the cabins on the port side of the ship.

"Um, why are we going this way? Our cabins are starboard…"

"Dei, don't you smell it?"

Instead of asking what Narcisse meant, Deimos decided to oblige them, thinking that he'd at least get to get to his nap quicker if they did. But the aroma that hit him put paid to that plan almost immediately. Blood. Not much of it, but there all the same.

"Someone's hurt," Deimos said. "Let's go and see."

"Ah, but-"

"You drew my attention to it."

Deimos grabbed Narcisse's wrist and began to drag them down the steps. The smell of the blood became stronger, bringing more impressions with it. Fresh blood, newly spilled. The surprise that came with it-whoever the person was, they hadn't meant to hurt themselves, he thought. The pain would be keenly felt, but not as an indicator of serious injury. Most likely, they'd not need much more than a bandage- but that was no reason to walk away.

Heading down the stairs, the first thing that Deimos noticed was that it was dark, darker than the rest of the ship was. Even in the lower indoor decks where natural light did not come, there was still sufficient lighting to make up for it, but for some reason this corridor was gloomy. It did not take him long to discern that it was because someone had shattered some of the lamps from the way glass crunched beneath his shoes. The smell grew a little stronger, wafting closer and away, closer and away, until he turned a corner and almost walked into an open door.

"Gods," he swore. "What is it with me and walking into things?"

"It only happened once?" Narcisse said from behind him, sounding ever so slightly out of breath.

"Twice! But that's not the poi-"

Deimos stepped away from the door, ready to inform Narcisse exactly why bumping into things twice in a short space of time was more than enough for a day when all of a sudden something rushed out through the door, pushing past Narcisse and running away. The scent of blood wafted behind them as they rushed further down the corridor and Deimos whipped around:

"Oi, are you hur-"

"Deimos, look."

Narcisse almost never called him by his full name, so this was more than enough to stop him short. Curiously, he pushed the door slightly closed and knelt beside Narcisse to take a closer look at the item that he had picked up. It was a pretty thing, a string of golden-looking pearls with a red tear-drop pendant set in silver. But it was more than a pretty thing. That red, its glow was small yet so very blinding in the half-dark of this corridor, singing and fizzing, speaking to something deep inside his own blood. Matching the blood smeared on the wall just above it where it had been resting.

Blood…he thought. He took in a great gulping breath, the smell momentarily overwhelming despite the carpet and the fresh paint and the shattered glass still stuck to his shoes and-

Danger. Somebody else.

On instinct, he reached for his ankle-knife, ready to whip it at whoever was approaching, only for Narcisse to swear loudly as the necklace was whipped away from them, leaping up and pinning whoever had grabbed it to the wall by their wrist. They cried out, and the necklace dropped to the floor again. Deimos quickly scooped it up before confronting the person.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing here and why have you taken this necklace?"

The person, a blond-haired young woman, glowered. She didn't answer at first, struggling to get out of Narcisse's grip. After a moment though, she clearly realised that the struggle was futile and she stopped.

"Why should I tell you anythi-Memnon."

Deimos couldn't hold back the gasp, and Narcisse let go of her wrist in shock. The girl rubbed her wrist, hard while she kept her green-blue eyes on them. She didn't even move when other footsteps thundered down and somebody asked:

"Phaedra, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Orphie."

'Orphie' was also blond, but a little taller, with red horns coming out of his head. He was followed by four others, including their double agent. It was only the sight of these people that made the girl's words sink in and Deimos looked at her properly. Still holding her wrist, there was something about the set of her shoulders and the tilt of her chin that made her look as if she was looking down on them even though height-wise she clearly wasn't. Fitting, then, that her name is that of a princess. And if she is Phaedra, then 'Orphie' is Orpheus…just as they were described, and that means that these people…Deimos tried to catch the eye of the double agent and then shrugged.

"I take it that you are all of Emathion."

"Clearly, yes." Phaedra said.

Deimos laughed, and tossed the necklace in his hand, catching it with a laugh as he saw Phaedra's eyes flash. He held it up high, dangling it cheerily and stepping back neatly as Orpheus tried to lunge for it.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but we've beaten you to it-"

"Why, you, I'll challenge you right here and now-"

"You will not," Narcisse said coldly. "Know when you're beaten. We found it first, and we had it first."

The members of Emathion were ruffled, and Phaedra was clearly at a loss. Even as she put a calming hand on Orpheus' shoulder she turned to the others, the worry all too apparent on her pretty face. And on all of theirs too. Even the double agent was doing a good job of pretending that she cared, wringing their hands and looking from one member to the other to the other.

"A fight down here would be foolish I think, Phaedra."

This was said by a man with many ear piercings, and star tattoos visible on his left arm as he ran a hand through his fringe. Pollux, Deimos thought.

"There's already something seriously wrong with this corridor, and others will have heard the commotion. We should get back out and regroup. It will be no difficult thing to track these two down again, and once we have them we'll have the rest and-."

"Actually, none of you will be having this."

Deimos had been watching with amusement at how Emathion all tried to convince themselves that they'd be able to get victory, but all of his own confidence disappeared at the sound of the voice behind him thick and heavy with cigarettes. He looked over to see the extremely tall, broad-shouldered figure of a man he had seen around the ship. Or maybe he just seemed large because he was so imposing, with his arms crossed like that and the scar across his face.

"Now, you can give back Ms Wright's property and leave quietly, or…well, you wouldn't like the alternative, would you?"

"Is that a threat? I'd like to see you try it!"

Even as Deimos said this, he shivered slightly, tightening his grip on the necklace. Narcisse let out a breath, and put his hand over Deimos' tightly clenched fist, brushing the parts of the chain that spilled out.

"What, exactly, is the alternative?"

"Turning you over to the authorities, as well as informing Ms Wright that I have found the people she has asked me to look for."

"Delilah Wright is looking for us?" Phaedra demanded.

Deimos didn't know whether to be annoyed she had beaten him to the question, or to just be intrigued. He had to admit that the possibility was very intriguing.

"Well, not that I am aware of," the man said. "She is however, looking for people who are seeking to steal from her."

"This necklace?" Narcisse asked, spikes in his voice.

"Her entire fortune."

This answer sent shockwaves through all of them present, and the man narrowed his eyes at them all.

"Ah, of course you're not. I take it that you were after the necklace."

"Well, we are now." Deimos said with a shrug.

"Dei." Narcisse cautioned.

"What? It's true, it's not like we kn-"

"Dei."

Deimos glowered at Narcisse, who was glaring and pointing at the man. Deimos looked back over at the man, watching as he swept his gaze over all of them.

"You know, it is kind of strange," he said. "I am looking at a number of possible suspects, but none of you ever came up as being on my radar. Of course, I know who you all are. More or less. That strange cult, am I right?"

"C-cult?" some of the members of Emathion spluttered.

"That's mean!" one of them, a child-like figure wearing a bandana and messy clothes declared. "That's real mean, Frederick Jackson!"

"You know his name, Atropos?" Orpheus asked.

"Sure I do. Heard it somewhere." Atropos said with an exaggerated shrug.

The man-Frederick Jackson, if Atropos was to be believed-just grunted at that.

"You're right about that. Now, let me get this clear. Did you or did you not break into Delilah Wright's rooms to steal that necklace?"

As Jackson pointed, Deimos felt Narcisse's fingers tighten against his own fist, and glanced at their face, which was unusually strained as they watched Frederick. Huh, that's unusual.

"Where are her rooms?"

Jackson raised an eyebrow at that, but rather than answer, he simply looked up and down the corridor before holding his hand out. Tapping his foot impatiently, it was clear what he wanted.

"What is someone like you going to do with this?" Narcisse asked, voice low.

"Do? Give it back to its rightful owner, of course. As for what she will do with it, that's none of your buisness. You'd best give it back, and run off to entertain your little deluded fantasies-"

"Take that back."

Orpheus and Pollux pushed in front of Deimos and Narcisse, but Jackson did not seem fazed. Instead, in a smooth moment, he pulled a gun from a holster that Deimos realised too late had been hidden beneath the coat he wore draped over his shoulders like a cloak. While Jackson did not go so far as to point it at Orpheus or Pollux, the way he held it made it clear that he would not hesitate to do so.

"Orphie! Pol!" Phaedra cried out.

"I'd rather not. I do not wish this case to be messy. But either you'll comply or it will be messy. Messier for you, too."

Jackson actually yawned, looking slightly bored and very irritated. Nonetheless, there was a certain steel under the drawl of his voice that seemed to prevent Orpheus and Pollux from attempting any further attack. Instead they both grumbled wordlessly, retreating back to Phaedra's side. Deimos swallowed, and said to Narcisse.

"Give it back."

"But, I-"

"We need to, Narcisse. I'm not getting shot by this detective-I'm assuming you're a legitimate detective, by the way-before we've even got anywhere with this."

"I am more legitimate than you are." Jackson said.

Narcisse trembled, but let go of Deimos' hand, sticking their own in their pockets, looking paler than usual. Deimos frowned briefly at them before reluctantly putting the necklace in Jackson's hand. He winced at how its glow seemed to dim in Jackson's larger, callused hand before disappearing into a pocket. The gun was put away as well. Jackson sighed and gestured to the open door that the shadowy figure had come through. Deimos followed, as did the others.

When Frederick flicked the switch that turned on the harsh white lightbulb in the ceiling, Deimos was surprised to discover that rather than being a cabin, this was some sort of storage cupboard. Larger than average-certainly enough for all of them to fit in-but nonetheless a storeroom. It seemed mostly to be filled with folded linens, as well as what looked like extras of the complimentary toiletries that were in each cabin. There were other boxes, too, but Deimos couldn't quite tell what they were. One of the linens had fallen onto it, part of it ripped. There was a very slight scent of blood here too, but no visible drops unlike out in front of the room.

"Huh, it's been disturbed."

Jackson crouched down beside a pile of old boxes, but Deimos could not discern what it was that had interested him. Instead, there was only the scent of blood, the same blood that had led them here in the first place. Just what is going on, Deimos wondered. This is not what I expected from this case.

"Alright," Jackson said, suddenly standing again. "I need you to explain to me exactly how you came to have this necklace."

"We found it first," Deimos jumped in quickly. "We smelt blood and came down here, and someone rushed out of this very room, dropping the necklace."

"So you have not been to Delilah Wright's rooms." Jackson reiterated.

"No, but if we had any idea that she might have-"

"Dei, that's not the smartest thing to be saying." Narcisse pointed out.

Deimos was about to snap at Narcisse but paused, seeing how drawn they suddenly seemed. He resolved to ask them properly about it later and turned to gesture to Phaedra.

"They came later, and she tried to take it from me and that's about it."

Jackson frowned, and took out a notebook, scribbling some notes. He continued to ask questions about what they had seen, and when, and if they had noticed anything about the person who had come out of this room. Deimos answered, as did Phaedra and some of the other members of Emathion, in particular the double agent. Jackson frowned at all this, and when he'd finished jotting finally asked:

"So why are you interested in this necklace?"

"It might be something we are looking for, or possibly related to it." Phaedra said.

"It sings to me."

"Oh, so you heard it too?"

There was a pause, in which both Narcisse and Orpheus stared at each other. Jackson grunted.

"It's a piece of jewellery, not some magical amulet that will grant you three wishes or whatever it is your cult believes in."

"Our 'cult'? Firstly, we're not a cult and secondly, don't lump us in with them!" Orpheus spluttered. "We're of Emathion, they're Memnon."

"Means nothing to me, a cult is a cult. You're all the same, a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Either way, I am satisfied that none of you, or your cult are part of this case that I am in. However…"

Jackson looked at all of them.

"You have experience with this. I know that much about you. You may not be on the right side of law or even society, but you're adept at finding people and objects."

Artefacts, Deimos wanted to correct, already feeling bristlier than a porcupine at being called part of a cult (and lumped in with Emathion, to boot). Not just objects but artefacts, and this one is the most important of all and that necklace…He could not hear it sing, as Narcisse and Orpheus had but he'd sensed something off of it. If it was not the artefact they were all looking for, it was connected.

"Let's come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. Assist me in discovering who is after Delilah Wright's fortune, and I'll not reveal your true motives for being on this ship."

"Who'd believe you, anyway? Even you think that we're nothing more than a deluded cult." Iapetus asked. "We're not causing any harm, are we?"

Iapetus' tail swished slightly as she asked this, the decorative chain making a twinkling sound as it did so.

Jackson grunted and his mouth flickered, in something approaching a smirk.

"I do not think that the law would agree with that. Attempted theft, and the vandalism could easily be linked back to you as well. To say nothing of the fraud-oh, don't look so surprised. Do you really think that I didn't do my research? Whatever papers and ID you used to get on this ship, it's as fake and non-existent as your gods or whatever you believe in are. With that, and the fact I can easily prove your intention to commit multiple crimes while here, I'd say that you're the ones who would have trouble being believed."

"That's-"Deimos said.

"You don't officially exist. None of you exist at all. You have no standing in this argument. "

For the first time, there was a glimmer of cruelty in Frederick's dark flinty eyes as his words hit home. You don't exist, you will not matter to the world, and nobody will miss you when you're gone. How many times had Deimos heard such words? How many times had all of them heard such words? Again, he looked to Narcisse, who had now wrapped their arms around themselves and realised that he could not wait until later.

"Easy, Narcisse." Deimos murmured, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Easy now. You're here, aren't you? Right here."

Jackson snorted, but Deimos angled himself very slightly in a pointed gesture meant to block him out. He put his hands on Narcisse's shoulders, waited for them to meet his eyes before grinning. Narcisse blinked uncertainly and then nodded. Deimos nodded back and then let go. Some of the colour slipped back into Narcisse's face as their posture relaxed slightly, but they still looked shaky. Despite this, they managed to confidently ask:

"What will you actually do to help us?"

"Do?" Jackson snorted. "I deal with cold hard facts, not fantasies and delusions. But I certainly won't interfere with your business, as long as it does not interfere with mine."

"And as long as we assist you. You won't just let us walk away?" Phaedra asked.

"No, I won't."

"Why?" Pollux demanded, putting a hand on his hip.

"Why, indeed?"

This came from Taygete, who was a lot like Iapetus in that she had an adorable appearance and clearly liked to wear pink. But with wide earth-brown eyes blinking all bewildered behind glasses, she seemed more serious. Quieter. Certainly, Deimos was surprised to hear her speak at all, for he knew that both she and the final member of Emathion, the girl with an eye-patch also named for a princess, were both pre-disposed to being rather quiet. Even Jackson seemed startled for a moment by Taygete speaking.

"That's the offer. You can take it, or you can leave it."

Truthfully, this really is an interesting turn of events, Deimos thought. I am sure there might be some way of turning this to our advantage…

"Alright then."

Narcisse raised an eyebrow, but did not say anything. The members of Emathion gasped, again all looking amongst each other before eventually Phaedra also gave her consent. Jackson simply grunted, and gave them a quick run-down of the first thing they were required to do. Huh, Deimos thought, that seems easier than I would have thought. As for who the people are…

"Take these," Jackson said afterwards, pulling a set of photographs from between the pages of his notebook. "I have back-ups. Now, clear off. I'll check in at the beginning and at the end of the masquerade. I need to investigate exactly what went on here."

Deimos accepted the photographs, and watched for a moment as Frederick knelt back down by the boxes he had been inspecting. Something glinted between two boxes and Deimos leaned closer. Could that be…? But Jackson whipped it up immediately, eyes narrowing even more. Recognising when he was beat, Deimos quickly left the storage cupboard, followed by the others.

"Come on, Narcisse, let's go-"

"Wait."

The steel in Phaedra's voice pinned him in place despite everything, and he turned to look at her, returning her almost-regal look with an arrogant head-tilt of his own. She did not back down.

"We need to meet up and discuss this situation."

"What? Why?"

"If he exposes us, he exposes you too. We need to get him out of our hair." Orpheus said. "Gods, are you really that cotton-brained?"

"He can hear you, you know." Narcisse pointed out, gesturing to the storage cupboard.

Orpheus simply made a rude gesture, and turned to Phaedra.

"Drag them with us?"

"We cannot, they came through that door. I'll simply have to send some of you to make sure they arrive. You'll bring the rest of your group, of course. Meet them at the cinema deck, they will bring you to my cabin."

"That's-" Deimos spluttered, then swallowed his outrage. "You know what, alright, fine. Whatever. Let's get it over and done with."

"Dei?" Narcisse asked curiously.

"We have to make sure that they don't screw this up for us, after all."

"Excuse me-"

"Orpheus, Pollux, stop." Phaedra sighed. "Well, I hope to see you soon. Otherwise we'll be looking for you, and you will not like it."

"Yes, we get it, alright? Geez."

Phaedra simply raised an eyebrow, and turned to leave. The other members of Emathion followed her, with Iapetus, Taygete and Orpheus looking back over their shoulders. The latter glared but the other two seemed curious, even pensive in the case of Taygete particularly. Deimos just stared until they shivered and turned away, disappearing. Only once he could no longer see them did he tap Narcisse on the shoulder and head back the way they had come.

When they were back in the corridor that had originally led them to the indoor sports area, Deimos breathed out and turned to Narcisse.

"What was that? With the necklace? I felt it, the way it glowed, but…"

"In all honesty, I cannot explain it to you," Narcisse said, voice trembling ever so slightly. "It…it was singing? You must have heard it. Singing, pulling. If that's not the artefact then it is surely something and…"

"And?"

"Say, Dei, what do you think the blood has to do with anything?"

"The blood? I don't know. But it is important, I grant you that. I wonder who it was who hurt themselves. It may even be whoever Frederick Jackson is actually looking for."

"Perhaps so. Maybe we should find our way to the cinema deck before we have those two barbarians trying to spear us in the middle of the main dining hall?"

Deimos clicked his tongue, realising that his hopes for a nap were never going to come to fruition. And from what he'd seen of Orpheus and Pollux he knew full well that they would not hesitate in doing such a thing. What a foolish group Emathion were, their hearts so clearly on their sleeves. He didn't understand how it was they could even be compared to Memnon. Maybe he'd get to see something that explained that while he was forced to work with them. Maybe.

Ah well, at least it will make things interesting…

"Alright then," he said to Narcisse. "Lead the way."