Riche ran far, as far as his breath could take him. He ran for a distance until he turned around to face the woman and then stopped.
She wasn't looking at him anymore; in fact, she had no more interest at all.
fuck, that was close, too close.
His breaths were quick.
Who was she? I felt like I was going to die. That sword, that darkness, whatever it was, it was disgustingly awful! And the same could be said for her temper.
Riche took a deep breath, returning his breathing to normal. He then looked down at his hands, where he held the book out in front of him.
"This thing saved me, somehow…"
He flipped the book over and began examining it, noting its blue cover and spine, as well as the silver lettering that his eyes glossed over as he read aloud:
"The Chaos That Is, by The God."
It was an odd title, and even the author's name was weird. Riche felt confused for a moment before he recalled back to the book he was reading back at his store.
It's the book, the one the Archivist had in the story… but the title has changed? I'm sure it said, 'The Chaos That Was', not 'The Chaos That Is'... The pen name is the same, though.
Hmm… why do I have it? Why is it here with me? How did it appear out of thin air right in front of me? Am I in the book?
There were too many unanswered questions that rampaged through his mind. Riche was overly confused; he could only think of the possibilities, but could never settle on one.
He took a deep breath.
No, no. I'm getting too ahead of myself. I can't determine that off this single detail, but then again, where am I?
He kept his sight on the book, and with his right hand to its side, he tried opening it…
It wouldn't open…
"Odd, why isn't it opening?"
Riche tried opening it again, but still nothing happened.
The pages looked like they were normal, but when he touched them, they weren't. They felt rock solid, immovable; it was like nothing could break them, they couldn't be separated.
No wonder the woman's attack was blocked.
As Riche was deep in thought, a tall man started walking towards him from a distance. He had short blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, and a handsome face that could shock the heart of any woman.
The armor he wore was dark gray, similar in style to the woman's but much wider to match his body.
He talked, but didn't direct his words to anyone. He was more or so displaying his thoughts in his words, speaking just to himself.
"Ah, that was an interesting sight, I didn't expect that man to block the mistress's attack."
His voice had an accent of elegance, like he was someone of high class.
He continued approaching Riche, who was still unaware of his presence, and as he got closer, he put his right hand on Riche's shoulder, startling him into a slight jump.
"Whoa!"
Riche quickly turned around, clearly shaken, and was greeted by a flash of brightness coming from the man's pearly white teeth.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you there."
The man had flashed a bright smile at Riche, trying to calm him down.
Startled and confused, Riche asked:
"W-who are you?"
The man continued to smile, then let out his right hand in front of him, prompting Riche to take it.
"The name's Theo Fline."
With the man's hand out in front of him, Riche felt a barrage of eyes piercing him from all around. People were looking at them, more specifically, the man. It seemed like everyone knew who he was, and similar to how he seemed left out of the woman's identity, Riche had no idea who this man was.
As it turned out, Theo was someone just as famous as the woman who had almost killed him; actually, they were famous together.
Whispers all around talked about Theo and Riche. Riche even heard whispers about himself, but they were mostly negative, which slightly annoyed him.
These people, why are they talking about me? I haven't done anything to deserve this negativity.
However, not wanting to be rude to the man, Riche hesitantly took his hand and shook it.
"Archivist," he responded.
Theo raised an eyebrow.
"Your name is, Archivist?"
Riche nodded.
It felt strange to be introducing himself as 'Archivist' outside of the store.
In the past, when going out for food or any necessity during the times he rarely left his shop, he commonly introduced himself with his real name, 'Riche', but this time, he had blurted out his 'Archivist' alias, feeling the pressure of the eyes surrounding him.
However, not wanting to waste the man's time since he seemed to be some big shot or someone potentially famous, he stuck with it, branding himself as 'Archivist' to him.
"That's quite an odd name… Well then, Mr. Archivist, I have a quick question for you…"
"Go ahead."
"How did you block that attack? You don't seem like someone with much strength, so how?"
He didn't see it? If he didn't, then did anyone? Should I tell him about the book? No, let's ask him why he wants to know.
"Why the interest?"
Theo tilted his head slightly to the right and smiled again.
"We're all curious men, aren't we? So how did you block it?"
It was an almost perfect response for the situation.
Damn, he's right, even my curiosity got the best of me… it almost cost me my life…
Riche sighed.
"If you insist, sir."
Though he had an idea of what happened, Riche wanted to keep the book a secret from anyone else, so he told a somewhat obvious lie he thought was foolproof.
"So, I don't know exactly how it happened, but it was like something had miraculously blocked it, some sort of invisible force, like divine intervention or something."
"Really?"
Riche nodded.
"It was confusing to me as well, but I was so scared by the woman, and I didn't want to die, so once I felt a change, I ran away, ignoring what had just saved me. I only cared for my life."
Theo could tell Riche was lying; his tone had changed, and he felt more straightforward, as if to hide his nervous tells.
He let out a slight chuckle that barely lasted, then leaned in closely to Riche's left ear and whispered intently:
"that was a clever but obvious attempt at a lie you made there. but, you can't hide it from me… I saw it, that book of yours took the strike for you, it was very impressive. don't panic, though. I know well that I was the only one who saw it, so I suggest you keep it hidden, unless you want to get torn to shreds by these incarnations of greed surrounding us. Something capable of such an action would surely be desirable, am I right?"
His words were startling.
Riche twisted his eyes to his left and nodded very slightly.
"correct."
Theo smiled.
"I'm glad you understand. you sure are an interesting man, Archivist, so I hope we can meet again someday. I'm counting on it."
"what?"
Theo lifted his head back, then walked by Riche, patting him on the shoulder twice as he left him staring blankly.
He wants to meet again? But, I didn't do anything…
Confused by his words, Riche turned around and then shouted at Theo's back:
"Wait, Mr. Fline!"
Theo turned to him with a smile still plastered on his face.
"Yes, Archivist?"
"Who was that woman?"
Theo's face dropped.
"You don't know her?"
Riche shook his head.
"Ha! You really need to get in the loop of things, Archivist. But, if you really want to know who she is, then she is the Crow, of course!"
Theo turned back around and continued walking.
The Crow…
The name felt familiar to Riche, but he had forgotten where from.
"the crow… the crow… the crow…"
He repeated the name multiple times, but couldn't remember where he heard the name. It felt so familiar, yet it was distant. He felt he knew exactly who she was, but he didn't know anything…
Focusing his eyes, Riche saw in the distance, Theo approaching Crow.
He stopped right in front of her, and they started talking, seeming to know each other well.
Riche watched for a few seconds before Theo tilted his body to the side and turned his head back towards where he stood.
It was obvious they were talking about him and not wanting to be seen by Crow, Riche quickly turned back around, avoiding their attention.
His heart started beating rapidly again.
He looked down, then rubbed his hand down his face, stopping it just over his mouth. He gritted his teeth and muttered to himself through his fingers.
"fuck, so that was why he approached me."