"Um...hello?" The man of unknown origin walked deeper into the cramped store filled with antiques, some were unique to him, some he recognised immediately. The store looked clean in one glance, but if you looked closely, you could see the dusts built up around the store. There was barely any lights here, only the one coming from the half opened window beside the entrance door.
While walking, carefully not to knock over the antics, his eyes wandering around the dull store, trying to find a clue if someone was here recently. Suddenly, he was stopped on his track as the hem of his cloak got stuck on an antic that was placed on the floor. He carefully pulled his cloak free and bent down to pick up the antic, examining it.
It was not something he was familiar with during his long lives, but it was also not something he couldn't guess what it used for. To him, it looked like a candle holder. It had only one stand in the middle to place the candle. But what made it so unique was the empty circular hole, slightly etched into the leg of the candle. It was as if something was meant to be put in there. In addition, the carvings were ones he never seen before. From he could discern, he could see an image of a giant bird and probably a phoenix. Though, he could never be sure. Without the proper light and tools, he couldn't see past the rust and dirt that clung to the leg of the candle made of Iron.
"Time Advisor." A raspy voice suddenly could be heard as he looked up immediately and was met with a man that was not far from his 50s. The man was standing in front of a door that the cloaked man assumed was some sort of storage room.
"What?" The cloaked man asked in confusion at the old man's words.
"Time Advisor. That's the name of the thing you're holding. Least that's what the woman gave it to me said."
The cloaked man looked at the candle holder in curiosity, wondering about its story and how it came to have a name, but he slightly shook his head and put the candle back down gently on the floor before his eyes moved towards the old man's figure.
"I came here to meet someone named Seichi. From my information, he was about this height, and he used to work here?" The cloaked man said as he pulled out a folded paper from his pocket and unfolded it. He read the information on the paper as his hand reached out slightly to his side, the same height as his waist, to better explain the height of the person he was looking for.
"And uh...uhm...it says here, um, he is white? What? Who wrote this?" He mumbled the last words in confusion and annoyance.
"Anyway, he's a boy named Seichi. Do you know him?" The man said as he crumpled the paper in frustration at so little information and some useless mention. Clearly, his team didn't do their job properly.
The old man only looked at him in silence for a while with his gloomy eyes. The eyes were telling a story of its own, the horror he had seen before that made him had those kind of eyes.
"Who's asking?" The old man finally spoke as he moved towards a chair at the counter of the shop, taking a seat there.
The cloaked man quickly followed him and closed the distance between them but still far enough to able him to see the full figure of the old man.
"I'm Seth. Someone sent me here to get Seichi." Seth said without hesitant, as if his mission was not that of a secret.
"What do you want with Seichi?"
"I just want to ask him something." Seth said as he smiled brightly.
The old man stared at him with a frowned. He tried to stare past the cloak to see Seth's face, but it was to no avail. It was always like that. No one knew or ever seen 'their' faces, even when you directly involved with 'them'. The old man sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"My name's Shima. I'm the owner of this store."
"Well, the store looks inoperable at the moment."
"Well, that's because Seth is gone. He was the one that always managing this store. I already planned to inherit it to him, but..." Shima started before his words stuck in his throat.
"But..?" Seth was getting curious as he inched a bit closer towards the old man.
"....did he perish?" Seth assumed.
"No, he's not." Shima retorted immediately.
"He's well and fine...and alive."
Seth was stunned by his words as he fell silent. He saw the small smile on Shima's face. He tilted his head to the left slightly as he smiled nonchalantly.
"Well, that can't be true. He can't be alive nor die. He doesn't have a life. You see, he has a heart but it doesn't beat anymore. After all, The Dead wouldn't just suddenly comes back." Seth said while laughing as if the idea alone made him think it was crazy and nonsensical.
The old man huffed in annoyance and glared at him.
"Well, tell you what. I don't know where he is now. Last time he was here, he was saying goodbye to me then left just like that. So, good luck on finding him."
"Sigh~ Well, that's disappointing. I was really looking forward to meet him again. If I didn't know any better, I would already have you erased." Seth rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"You're a cruel but benevolent creature at the same time, you know that. Erase me or let me live, make a decision next time." The old man said nonchalantly as if it was not a serious thing to him.
"I don't think there will be a next time, not with me." Seth mumbled as he glanced at the old man's face before turning around and walked towards the door.
"By the way, you know about the kid, right?" Seth asked as he paused at the door.
"Yeah. I received the message."
"Good. My boss needs someone familiar with us to watch over him for a while. Well, at least until he achieve his current goals." Seth smiled one last time at Shima before walking out the door.
Shima let out a big sigh. Honestly, he was tired of being the Watcher or whatever role 'they' forcefully assigned to him. He didn't have a life. For all he remembered, he had been living in this store for years, maybe decades. He already started to forget how the sun felt on his skin.
"Jeez, I hate living." Shima mumbled before he stood up and walked into the back room.