I'm backkk! I know you've all missed you're greatest helper in this journey! Sparkle!
Once again we have a new entry into our dictionary of truth! Here you go!
Nous:
common sense; practical intelligence.
the mind or intellect
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Hold on. Censoring? How unfun. Look's like that damned bolts for brains clanker still want's to harp on my fun, eh?
Don't worry. They're just small setbacks. My dictionary of truth shall not be fooled. Oh, and I have a message for you.
Once again. You can choose to trust me, or you can choose to believe I'm just a no good trickster. All I want to tell you is to keep playing close attention.
The details are all in the words. So don't act all shocked when something happens, the hint's we're there.
Or maybe they weren't. Because-
Someone's been lying to you!
HAHAHAH!
I wonder who it is?
Sparkle Out-
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After spending a good time laughing and teasing Raiden, Shindo was forced off of the carriage in a similar manner to how Yuri was; however, he actually managed to come down with some grace.
In front of him stood the large hotels and condos that belonged to the luxury hotel section of the Red Light District. Shindo was once again truly surprised by the scale and size of everything. He had known it was big, especially from the personal testimonies of servants at the Miyamoto household, but this was more than he was expecting.
Before he was kicked off and given free rein to explore, however, he was stopped by Xiao Mei. From the pocket of her pants, she pulled out a mask. Specifically, one of those masquerade masks you would see worn in plays. Shindo twisted the bright golden mask around in his hands for a few seconds. It was made out of authentic gold, which made it fairly heavy.
Xiao Mei pointed at it. "Put that on. As the son of the Miyamoto, you have the highest chance out of anybody to be recognized by any person walking down the street."
Shindo shook his head. "I'm sure you know of it. The Miyamoto family practically disowned me." That may have been exaggerating it. Shindo was still a part of the family, and he would still serve as the heir and their representative for the Grand Magic Ball. But despite that, internally, he was completely shunned and kicked away from everyone. He couldn't even remember the last time he and his father had shared a conversation. Life at his house was spent in constant silence, everybody avoiding each other's gaze.
"Still. There is a chance you could be recognized. Even higher considering you're heading to a section where all of the bigwigs meet up. A lot of the people gathered here are at the top ring of society. View any and everyone you meet here with suspicion. This place is a ring for secretive operations that the Mage's Association has been trying to thwart for a long while. Don't try to stick your head in where it doesn't belong. Stick to your mission."
Shindo nodded at Xiao Mei's warning. He watched for a few seconds as the carriage pulled off into the distance.
"Alright then. All I have to do is gather info, right?"
He turned back to face the rows of large skyscrapers and massive condos and buildings that made up this section of the district. Putting this place on the map, the red light district lay in the rough shape of a pentagon. There was the main hub area that cut through into the center and lay there in a circle. After that, the pentagon was split into three different sections, which were the three sub-sections.
Casino.
Luxury Hotel.
Service Hotels.
Shindo began to stroll down the walkway of the area, moving slowly and just taking in his environment.
Even if his job was something as simple as gathering info, which even in itself wasn't as simple as it seemed, the truth was Shindo was in an unfamiliar place, and he had no idea where to start.
Turning a corner, Shindo passed a couple who were walking down the street hand in hand.
"Can you believe the extent they've gone to?" The woman shook her head, 'tsking' in disappointment. Her eyes were hidden behind dark shades.
"It's only fitting." The man holding her hand replied. "Things have gone on too smoothly for far too long. It was only a matter of time before everything was blown into the limelight."
The woman stopped, shaking her head again.
"It's not even that! Things should have been able to proceed smoothly, but all of a sudden a little bit of pressure gets added, and now everyone wants to pivot?" She clenched her purse tighter.
Shindo walked out of earshot at that moment, and he was considering using mana to fortify his ears and continue to eavesdrop when suddenly he bumped into somebody.
"Kyaa!—"
"Shoot, I'm sorry; I wasn't watching where I was going!"
The person he bumped into was a young girl, probably sixteen or seventeen at the oldest. She was dressed in a simple red dress with floral designs. In her hands, she was carrying a buttload of documents and papers as well as boxes.
The papers were sent flying into the air, creating a big scene.
The girl slowly opened her eyes, first looking at Shindo before turning her gaze towards the papers that were now being scattered into the wind. Her eyes widened, and she rocketed to her feet, swiping and diving and grabbing at the papers before they could be blown away completely.
Shindo watched her frantic grabbing in wide-eyed shock. "S-sorry again. Are—"
In the midst of grabbing another paper, she wheeled around on Shindo, her black hair nearly slapping him. Their faces were inches away from each other, and her fiery red eyes were staring directly into his.
"Don't just stand there and watch! Help out!"
Spurred into action by her stern voice, Shindo began grabbing and collecting papers and boxes as well.
Around a minute later most of the papers had been gathered, and they were just picking up a few stragglers. Shindo bent down to pick up a piece of paper that luckily landed right next to a puddle of water.
Picking it up, his eyes scanned over the page.
It was a transaction report of sorts. The graph on it displayed a sudden shift of funding from "The Orphanage" towards "The Theatre." He stood up, picking up one final piece of paper that was floating down.
This one was an envelope, and the mailing address wasn't one Shindo recognized.
"Europe?" Shindo muttered to himself as he realized where the letter was addressed too.
"Hey! Don't read them!" The papers were snatched out of his hands before he could blink, and the girl was now stacking the papers up while counting them. She moved rapidly and efficiently, and she was done counting the hundreds of papers in seconds.
Just as quickly as everything had exploded, she had gotten it under control and was already preparing to leave.
"Sorry again! Really, it was my fault."
Before she sped away, she turned to Shindo. "Don't keep apologizing. Being sorry doesn't do anyone good. You want to make a difference? Lend a hand."
Shindo's eyes widened. For a singular moment, the words that this girl spoke, the way she said them, and her attitude in general.
It reminded him a painful amount of Sayako. Before she left, Shindo called out to her.
"Wait!"
She turned back around, frustrated. "What do you want?"
Shindo caught up to her. "God, you're fast. I didn't get your name. And also, let me help you, at least until you get to where you're going."
The girl just gave Shindo an unimpressed look. "Do whatever you want. If you get too creepy, I won't hesitate to scream."
She went back to walking, which was way faster than what most people ran. Shindo asked for forgiveness before moving to chase after her, trying to keep up with her speed. If he fell behind, things would look horrible, and he would be guaranteed to be receiving a free trip to the local police department.
"Wait! I didn't get your name!"
"I'm going to scream."
Shindo sighed before increasing his speed even more.
He really hoped this didn't look as bad as he thought it did.
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The girl never ended up telling Shindo her name, no matter how much he asked. She led him on a long and winding path around the area, which made Shindo wonder if this girl was experienced with running marathons.
Or more fittingly, 'walking,' because not once did she break out into a run. She didn't even sweat, as if this wasn't affecting her in any meaningful way.
Finally, they stopped in a circular courtyard-like area, which had an opera house, a movie theater, and multiple fancy restaurants. There, the girl made a turn to the left and stopped in front of a large postal box.
She then set down the tall stack of papers and boxes before placing her hands on her hips and looking at Shindo.
Shindo, who was still trying to catch his breath, looked up in confusion.
The girl sighed. "You said you wanted to help, right?" Shindo nodded.
She gestured to the postal box. "Make yourself useful. I have a call to make."
She began walking away before Shindo could even voice his concerns.
He turned back to the large stack. "Will it even fit?"
He then laughed to himself.
Turns out, it did in fact fit. Why? Shindo didn't bother to figure it out.
As he was gently placing each document into the box, he slightly fortified his ear with mana so he could pick up on what the girl was saying.
"Yes. Everything's been placed. It should be delivered. No, I can assure you I didn't look within it. Yep. This is Bellona, Goodwin's aide. Alright. What about the orphanage? No worries? Alright then. Thank you."
Just as Bellona hung up the phone, Shindo finished.
Bellona looked at the box before turning back to Shindo. "Next time watch where you're going. Don't you have anywhere to be? People don't come here to loiter."
Shindo laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, you see. I'm just looking for something. Ah, well, there's no point trying to be secretive. Do you know anything about places around here where really tragic things happen?"
Bellona froze. She turned back to look at Shindo.
"Tragedy?" Her eyes narrowed. "What could you want, looking into stuff like that?" Shindo was silent.
"You're an odd one. I don't even think you yourself realize what you're looking into..." After another short staring contest, Bellona sighed.
"If it means you'll leave me alone, whatever." She pointed to the opera house doors. "There. That's what you're looking for." She didn't elaborate any further, instead walking past Shindo.
"And Shindo."
Shindo froze.
How does she...
Bellona turned back, her red eyes sharp.
"Don't keep poking your head where it doesn't belong.
Shindo felt a shiver go down his spine. When he turned around, Bellona was gone.
"Who was she?"
Orphanage, Theatre, Europe, Bellona. It was a lot to take in, and it was confusing him.
Shaking his head, Shindo decided it would be best to just head inside the opera house and focus on his original mission. Pushing through the doors of the opera house, Shindo was in the main lobby, which was large but only had one pathway, which led straight towards the main auditorium. As Shindo stepped inside, he was immediately flagged down by the man at the reception desk.
"Mr. Miyamoto! Right here."
Shindo froze once again when another person called his name, a person he had never met before. Not to mention, he was in disguise. He may have been of slight notoriety, but not to this extent. Especially after everything that happened.
When Shindo made his way over, the man handed him a ticket.
"For you, sir. Looks like you'll be sitting in VIP!"
Shindo looked down at the ticket. "I, I never bought a ticket?"
The man was unfazed. "The ticket was purchased for you, under your name." He gestured towards the stairs. "That will lead you directly to the VIP suite."
Shindo listened to the man's words, all the while his mind was reeling.
Bellona. This guy. The ticket. Something was wrong; something was so very wrong.
As Shindo stepped onto the stairs, the sounds of the music coming from the auditorium got louder.
It was a piano solo. A Beethoven piece. Sonata no. 14 Moonlight.
The music continued to build up, as did the atmosphere. Shindo could feel his heart beginning to beat faster as his brain was blaring with danger sounds. The music seemed to be amplifying the sense of danger and fear he was feeling.
And as he pushed open the door and stepped into the bright lights of the auditorium, the music reached its conclusion, and the entire place exploded into cheers.
Holding a hand above his eyes, Shindo slowly opened them to see that the bright spotlight was directly on him. His VIP suite overlooked everything. All of the seats and people in the large semicircle down below. It gave him a perfect view of the stage, which was empty except for a single person rising from the piano.
"Give it up, give it up, for a VIP guest. From the Miyamoto family! Shindo!" Cheers erupted once more as Shindo stood in stupefied shock.
"This isn't real." His ears felt like they would pop from the noise. His heart was beating fast, and it felt like someone had placed a cobra around his neck. He was starting to hyperventilate.
What the hell is happening?
The auditorium gradually quieted down until there was only pin-drop silence. Shindo felt like his breathing and heartbeat could be heard by everyone in the auditorium.
He tried to calm himself down, but there was no doing any of that anymore. He couldn't. His mind was racing, wondering what in God's name was happening and what it all meant.
At that moment, a spotlight flashed on, shining over the lone man on the stage.
Light green hair, tall, dressed in clothes that were modern but at the same time resembled something that could be worn in ancient Greece. The man had a smile on his face, and one hand held out. One of his eyes was covered by a bandage. His other was trained dead on Shindo.
"The name is Anaxagoras."
The man bowed, and a banner dropped down from the ceiling. It read, 'Nous.'
"Allow me to tell you all a tale... a tale of a ghost."
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There were a lot of words that could somewhat give you an idea of what Kami's situation was like.
Horrible, scary, concerning, and many more would do the trick.
But none of them could truly capture the situation.
And if she was being honest, she herself hadn't fully come to accept what was going on right now. It just couldn't be possible. It was just a bad dream. In a few seconds Raiden would wake her up, and everything would be fine.
"Haaaah." The man sitting on the couch blew out a puff of smoke. One hand held a cigarette, and another was resting on the arm of the couch. His eyes roved around the walls of the home.
"These are some nice paintings you have in here. Good taste."
Kami wanted to make a move, to do something, because that was what Raiden would have done in this situation. But she couldn't.
One look was all she needed to see that she was outmatched. All she could do was comply with what this man wanted. And what that was, she didn't know.
White hair. A white trench coat and a turtleneck.
"The name is One. What about you, young lady?"
Oh yeah. And there was the gun.