Ficool

Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: The Aroma of Coffee and Hidden Traces

Mornings at "Old Tales" always began with the same ritual: the aroma of black coffee wafting from the neighboring cafe, mingling with the scent of old wood, oxidized brass, and the faint dampness characteristic of antiques. For Azazel, this blend of scents was a perfect symphony, symbolizing the harmony between past and present. The cafe was called "Kopi Kala," and its owner, a woman named Cecilia, was both the source of the aroma and Azazel's morning debates.

Cecilia was Azazel's opposite. While Azazel was calm and tended to be silent, Cecilia was a storm of energy with a loud laugh and a sometimes overly frank sense of humor. This morning, like many others, Cecilia appeared at the threshold of "Old Tales" with a cup of coffee in her hand. Her dark hair was sometimes tied up haphazardly, and her smile always implied something—which, according to Azazel—was suspicious.

"Azazel!" Cecilia greeted cheerfully, her voice echoing slightly among the antique shelves. "Have you had your soul's breakfast with the morning silence, or have you just found a clock ticking backward?"

Azazel, who was arranging an old stamp collection in the display case, merely grunted softly. Chloe, who usually slept atop stacks of books, opened an eye briefly, then drifted back to sleep. Chloe seemed immune to Cecilia's noise level.

"Just finished cleaning an ancient camera," Azazel replied, without turning around. "You know, Cecilia, this camera is like memory. It captures moments, but often we only see what we want to see, not the whole story behind it."

Cecilia leaned against the doorframe, sipping her coffee. "Oh, so now we're delving into camera philosophy. I thought today we'd be discussing the philosophy of rusty spoons."

"Are you here to debate philosophy or is there a botched coffee at your cafe?" Azazel asked, finally turning. There was a touch of sarcasm in his voice, but his observant eyes didn't miss something different about Cecilia. One of her earrings was mismatched, and there was a faint brown stain on her shirt.

Cecilia laughed. "No, it's not about coffee. But... I found something." She stepped further into the shop, her eyes sweeping around. "Something... strange."

Azazel paused his handling of the stamps. "Strange how?"

Cecilia sighed, a gesture she rarely made. She seemed a little... uneasy. "I found this behind one of the cafe benches while cleaning last night." She pulled a small pendant from her pants pocket. The pendant was made of dull silver, with an intricate lily flower carving. But what silenced Azazel was another small engraving on the back: the letters "A" and "R" connected by a heart symbol.

"A pendant?" Azazel said, taking it carefully. "This isn't something cafe customers usually leave behind. Too... personal." He flipped the pendant over, examining the engraving. His movements were gentle, as if the pendant could crumble at any moment. "And this engraving... it looks old, but somehow the surface feels odd."

"Right?" Cecilia chimed in. "I asked all the regulars this morning, nobody knows. And for some reason, I feel... this isn't an ordinary item. It has a mysterious aura." She leaned closer, pointing to the engraving. "Letters A and R. Does that mean the names of a doomed pair of lovers?"

Azazel squinted, his detailed observation at work. He examined the pendant again, then ran his fingertip over the surface of the lily. "The surface is slightly rougher than it should be, even for old silver. And this engraving..." He shifted his finger to the back. "Too precise for ancient hand-engraving. And there's a slight... rust-like stain in the crevices."

"Rust?" Cecilia frowned. "Silver doesn't rust, Azazel. That's probably just ordinary dirt."

"True. But this stain isn't like ordinary dirt." Azazel took a magnifying glass from a drawer beneath the counter. He examined the pendant more closely. His face was calm, but there was a glint of curiosity in his eyes. "This isn't rust. This is... like a residue. And this engraving..."

He fell silent, focusing on the tiny detail behind the engraved letters. A faint, almost invisible line, forming an unusual pattern.

"Like what?" Cecilia pressed. "You're killing me with suspense!"

Azazel ignored Cecilia, his mind working quickly, connecting small pieces of information. "It's like marks from an overheating engraving tool, or... perhaps some kind of botched chemical process." He turned to Cecilia, his gaze sharp. "Are you sure this was found in the cafe, Cecilia? Not... somewhere else?"

Cecilia shrugged. "Of course! Under the bench near the window. Maybe someone dropped it." She suddenly pointed to a table in the corner of Azazel's shop. "By the way, are those glass shards still there? Why haven't you cleaned them? I've been seeing them since yesterday."

Azazel followed Cecilia's指. In the corner table, right next to a vase of dried flowers, lay small, glittering glass shards. These weren't ordinary glass fragments. These shards always appeared there, no matter how often he swept or cleaned. And each time they appeared, there was a strange feeling accompanying them, as if they were traces of something invisible.

He looked at the pendant in his hand, then at the glass shards, then back at Cecilia, who was still waiting for his answer. A thin red thread began to weave itself in his mind, faint but intriguing.

"Those glass shards..." Azazel began, his voice slightly lower. "Are another mystery in this shop, Cecilia. Just like this pendant of yours. I haven't found its story yet."

Cecilia looked from the pendant to the glass shards, then back to Azazel. There was a faint smile on her lips, not her usual cheerful smile, but a meaningful one. "So, the 'Old Tales' shop really does hold actual 'old tales', huh? Maybe we should become detectives, Azazel. I'll be your Watson, you my Sherlock."

Azazel snorted. "I prefer to be considered a historian of inanimate objects, not a detective." He returned the pendant to Cecilia. "But if you find any other clues about this pendant, or if anyone is looking for it, let me know. Something's not right with its engraving."

Cecilia took the pendant, turning it in her fingers. "I will. By the way, Azazel, the coffee I left on your counter is cold. You'd better drink it soon, or you'll start complaining about 'cold energy numbing the caffeine'." She winked, and her crisp laugh filled the room again.

Azazel merely shook his head slowly, but there was a faint smile on his lips. Cecilia returned to her cafe, and the shop returned to silence, filled only by the clock's chime and the whisper of dust. Azazel watched the pendant in Cecilia's hand as she walked out. He looked at the glass shards in the corner of the table. Two small mysteries, appearing amidst daily routine. And for Azazel, these two things now felt like two threads waiting to be pulled. He knew that behind every laugh, behind every debate, and behind every old object, there was always something deeper waiting to be revealed. This was just the beginning.

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