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Ah well, it was too much of him to expect that they would’ve memorized the route from this corridor back to the main hall… Songbird shrugged and tilted his head to the side, a gesture for the humans to follow as he began walking to meet the elder halfway.

As they advanced, Inadi opened up the topic of the hooded figures. The guide stiffened. 

“That boy, the one in the green hoodie… He’s a human. He used to be a part of the first- no, second or third batch. He and a small child named Emily fell to their deaths from the Shakespearean Star Fisher, or the SSF for short,” Songbird paused and his facial expression darkened. The item hunter remained silent for a while and nothing else sounded in the hall save for the clacking of their shoes against the smooth marble tiles. Finally, Songbird raised his head and continued on, “At least, that was what I thought… But, as you’ve all seen, he’s banded with those criminals.”

“As for the other ones, I think they’re humans from a previous batch. They’re a bunch of outlaws… I don’t know what’s wrong with them, to be honest. Or why they’re being hunted down like- Oh, I guess I should explain. They’re being treated like Class 1 criminals here. I don’t know why, but they probably did something horrible,” The item hunter explained haltingly, although his face was contorted into a mask of doubt and reluctance. The hooded figures were a mystery nobody had the chance to solve yet but… He had the chance to travel to the places where, coincidentally, these hoodlums passed through and for some reason… The maximum damage they’ve dealt was thievery. That was a bit too light for someone to be placed on the highest roster of lawbreakers so they must’ve done something to the Queen…? “The pink-haired girl stole a load of items off my cart once. Got me in a lot of trouble,” He curtly closed the topic before he could say something he would regret.

[i]“And what exactly would happen if someone was caught helping these guys? Like say....what would you do to Mr. Cuddles is he was caught providing them anything?”[/i]

Songbird halted and turned to look at the boy with a look of utmost surprise in his face. In a few seconds his shock faded away and the nobody’s face was back to its usual irritated glower, but not before the item hunter cocked his head towards the approaching man as if to warn Inadi. This was a very sensitive topic after all; a mood breaker for the lovely world of Nowhere. “It’s not about what [i]I[/i] would do. Brandy, Martini, Two-Thirds, Dissonance, Serenade, Cello and I, along with a whole lot of others, are simply guides at Her Majesty’s beck and call. Such matters are out of our jurisdiction,” He said quite loudly, then added in a quick, muted whisper, “Execution, if you’re lucky.”

[i]"Excuse me, but you're in charge of the humans aren't you? This human wound up lost in the castle's maze room, it's a good thing he bumped into me."[/i]

Songbird straightened up and looked at Harper. The boy looked better. However, he had no time to ask the human a question as the old nobody suddenly shook him by the hand and- [i]uuuuugh[/i]- asked him to find something. Well, he can’t refuse, can he? He was an item [i]hunter[/i] after all. Y'know, sometimes having this kind of reputation was annoying...

Ah, the old man mentioned something familiar and it clicked. Amiel. Amiel Brightenburg. Loved ordering those heavy tubs of golden chocolate. This was his father. 

“Of course, Mr. Brightenburg. I’ll tell him to meet with you in the main hall,” Songbird plastered on a smile and watched as the man left. When the elderly Brightenburg shifted out of earshot he sighed, flipped his hair to the side, and then placed a hand on his hip as a scowl fell over his face.

“It’s a freaking ball and I have an arm injury. Do I look like I want to take a job?” He snarled under his breath. Jasper volunteered (or more like declared, duh) that she was going along with him. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's not like you need my permission to go anyway,” Songbird sighed and started walking, "What a fudging chore. I ain't a babysitter for celery's sake." On and on he grumbled, and often emitted short intermittent chirps along with his complaints.

“Pick up the pace, people. This ain’t a catwalk where you can spend your sweet time twirling your hips.”