(morning tit tis)

Gallagher awoke to a beam of sunlight shining through his mask. Somehow he always forgot to close the curtain so that exact thing wouldn't happen.

Lowell Brichalles
Lowell awoke to a thundering hangover and a bit of a blood message that had been smeared over the walls in a strange language he didn't recognize. The body of a dead bandit was propped beside him with its throat bitten out , one of his arms missing, and a sickening hole carved in the center of the corpse's chest. A large pouch of pilfered coin sat in front of him, clearly left for him to take.
He sat up, blinking at the discovery uncomfortably as he checked to make sure he was still asleep. When he found out that he was, indeed, awake, he swallowed hard.

This could pose a bit more of an issue.

It seemed the amulet had failed, its magic weakened under the Grand Duke's magic. He looked over the orange gemstone in the center, noticing it had been severely cracked.
He decided not to remain here any longer, resolving to remove the corpse by sundown where the shadows of night would cover his presence easier.

He grabbed the scroll and the bandit's coins, reverted himself back to 'elf' form again in the mirror, and threw on the hooded cloak he had tucked into the hideout's shelves as he prepared to venture out into the city to seek out a messenger.

He was already feeling exhausted by the effort of it all.

Gallagher sat up, slipping out of bed. He blinked a couple of times to adjust to the annoying light before turning and heading out the door, walking directly to the Empress's chambers. He was still a bit tired, but he simply ignored that. The first thing he had to do was make sure the Empress had slept. And eaten. It seemed to become a regular occurrence for her to forget to do both those things.

(same honestly.)

Lowell Brichalles
After some searching, he managed to flag down one eating at a local tavern and after pulling him aside, exchanging a fake name, and elaborating with on the details of the private 'love letter' he intended to send, Lowell was relieved that the messenger went away without any further questioning after receiving his payment.

He decided to slip what remained of the bandit's coins to the bartender for another drink and breakfast. He strangely didn't find himself very hungry at the prospect of food, but the habit of eating anything would keep at some sanity and routine in his life. He prodded at the fish and vegetables with a bit of disgust as he got his plate and forced himself to eat something a bit more.. physical.

He was already beginning to miss the palace's food and the company.

(Are you still in this by the way?
If you are, might have wolfman pay Nicote a visit)

(I am)

(Noice.
*pushes him in through his window* In ya go, big guy. Don't worry, it'll be fine)

Lowell Brichalles
Lowell briefly pondered his available options at present, considering it best to leave his sole operations to the day now.
While he intended to speak with Gallagher again, he could not take the risk of being seen by the Empress in broad daylight and strongly questioned his ability to remain in control of his mind during the night.

Then he had the realization. Something that had been under his nose the entire time.
The Bilderians. Of course.
Their whole society had a vast understanding of various curses and dark hexes.. While he hadn't gotten very acquainted with them during his stay at the palace, he was well aware of one of them was quite familiar with dark magic.
Well, he supposed, it wouldn't hurt to introduce himself now. The matter was just one of finding his way back onto the palace grounds.

It was brazen, but he was familiar with the area and had done it once before. He was skilled at breaking into places at this point.
He just hoped he wouldn't cross paths with anyone that would make such a thing more difficult than he intended it to be.

He gave thanks to the bartender and left with a wave, giving a silent wish to the Goddess to ask for her protection in this feat.
He wasn't a religious man by any means, but he figured it best to err on the side of caution the way his luck had been running lately, not wishing to draw further ire from her from his actions.

(ping because I forgot)

Nicote was hanging around in a tree on the palace grounds. Was it allowed? Probbably not. Did he care? Nope. Would he be seen? Definitely not. He could simply vanish in a clock of darkness if he wanted to. THough he'd prefer not to. He wasn't very skilled in the art of clocking oneself in darkness like one of his friends had been...

Nanita was still...somewhere.

Lowell Brichalles
He made his way through the capital quite easily aside from some cautious, paranoid folks scurrying away from him here and there.

He had been careful to mantain the illusion of an elven appearance, but still the combination of the sleep deprivation, his wolf eyes, and the cloak over his head gave him enough of a wild and unhinged appearance that those wise enough kept a clear berth of distance.

Lowell was not foolish enough to expect the same treatment from the palaces guards, knowing he'd be treated with a much greater level of suspicion than the high level he had already been operating on previously. It complicated things, sure, but he didn't exactly intend to be seen either.

As he made his way to the palace, he kept in mind the patrol routes of the guards he had taken care to memorize with Gallagher previously. He'd use this and his heightened senses to his advantage where he could.

He finally made his way into one of the palace gardens through a bend in one of the fences, careful to lie in wait ducked under a shrub as he scanned for any guards in the area.

Lowell.. felt the presence of someone nearby through means he could not place at this moment, still not seeing or hearing their presence despite his best efforts at scouting.
This frustrated him, but he forced himself to take a breath and remain in waiting.