"Spread out and pursue him. Try to corner him," Instructed the Cardinal-Ace Snake. He conjured a typhoon and took to the air, flying toward the direction where Qilangos had fled.
Alger Wilson clenched his jaw and ran out of Duke Negan's mansion, following the path of the municipal garden into the Hillston Borough. He wasn't willing to miss this opportunity, no matter how small the hope was!
Suddenly, he heard a voice which was carried to him by the wind, "There's no need to continue the pursuit."
No need to continue the pursuit? The voice of Cardinal Snake… Alger stopped after just running a few steps forward. He turned to look into the sky, puzzled.
He saw Cardinal Snake, who was wearing a black robe adorned with many storm symbols, floating above the forest and the man-made lake and staring down.
Alger creased his brows and sped over to where the Cardinal was without considering the reason. As he neared his position, he made use of his Seafarer abilities to get a clearer look.
He first smelt it before he saw it.
The clearing and then the mass of flesh and blood on the blood-soaked dirt.
Alger instantly halted. He couldn't believe his eyes. What was he seeing right now? Alger had spent countless years out in the sea among pirates and had seen atrocities after atrocities himself, but this took the cake.
Cardinal Snake landed beside him, "He's dead... the clues point to him losing control."
"When he escaped the ball there was no indication that he was about to lose control," Alger added, his eyes fixated on the bloody mess. He could see something shining in between that mess.
It seemed like The Cardinal Ace Snake also noticed that and approached the mess, he dug his hand into the now cooling flesh and pulled out a... was that a tarot card?
"'The Lovers'..." Ace Snake mused out loud, "Is this some kind of MO of another Beyonder or group?"
"I-" Alger paused, his mind was working a mile a minute- the one strong enough to easily take care of a Sequence 6 Wind Blessed with Creeping Hunger as well as someone who had some sort of connection to Tarot Cards, and specifically 'The Lovers' card- there was only one person who could have done this- it was Mr. Lover from the Tarot Club!
Ms. Justice had relayed the information directly to Mr. Fool and then Mr. Fool had granted that information to Alger- the only other people who could get this information from such a source was none other than either Little Sun or Mr. Lover. And Little Sun was stuck in The Forsaken Land of Gods, which left only one person who could have received this information in a timely manner- Mr. Lover!
Alger had long known that Mr. Lover was a strong existence not to be messed with and the closest to Mr. Fool, but he did not know that "He" was at this level...
But something did not stick right with Alger- didn't Mr. Lover say that "He" could not enter Backlund? And even if he did, just what sort of pathway had this kind of monstrous power which could achieve... this.
"The corpse has no Beyonder characteristics." Alger was broken out of his thoughts by Cardinal Ace Snake's words.
"But there was no time in between Qilangos running away and us finding him to give any sort of time for extraordinary characteristics to take form again... Are we even sure this is Qilangos and not a random civilian dismembered this way?"
Ace Snake shook his head, "No, this is Qilangis- well, this was Qilangos."
Alger stared at the corpse again.
The Tarot Club... was truly very strong!
Klein got off the carriage and straightened out his clothes as he made his way to the front gate of Amon's manor. He really wanted to see what Amon was doing.
After he finished writing his letter to Mr. Azik, he instantly went back to the place above the gray fog to spy on Amon- but for some reason as soon as Amon reached Qilangos while the man was trying to escape, the vision cut off entirely. He still hadn't been able to get over the shock that Amon somehow knew Ms. Justice's real identity- maybe he long knew by researching or that he recognized her when he ran into her at the party, Klein did not know.
But he couldn't even dwell on that topic as he was instantly overcome with a sense of dread and worry for Amon's safety.
Of course, he saw the way Amon effortlessly hid his presence from everyone but Ms. Justice at the ball, meaning he was insanely strong- stronger than Klein gave him credit for, but still-!
Not to mention that as soon as he had received the update letter from Mr. Azik and at the end he had asked if Amon was doing alright... Why would he ask that if he had seen Amon being completely alright?
Although he was glad that Mr. Azik had just thought Klein had asked for Amon's help like he had done with himself and Amon hadn't asked many questions on why Mr. Azik was there in the forest where Amon and Qilangos was, which meant that his identity as The Fool is still safe for the time being- but he couldn't even revel in that relief and quickly made his way to Amon's place since Amon had not updated his condition as Mr. Lover to The Fool. Which also- was very suspicious and concerning...
The Mr. Lover he knew found each and every excuse to beg his god for any kind of attention, something like this which would obviously earn him praise... why didn't Amon pray to him?
The front gate was open as always (a safety hazard, but now that Klein knew that Amon was a Beyonder himself, he worried a little less about that) he reached the door into the manor- only to find it locked.
Klein blinked in surprise.
Amon always never locked his doors- no, it was more like whenever Klein arrived the door was always locked and open for him or it was Amon himself who greeted him at the door like a loving and caring fiance that he was. But it was never locked...
Klein pulled out the key that Amon had handed to him a while ago and tried opening the door with that- but the key did not fit.
"Huh?"
Did Amon hand him the wrong key? Or did Amon change the locks and forget to hand Klein the new key?
Klein pursed his lips and rang the doorbell along with some old-fashioned knocks on the door.
"Amon? Are you in there? I'm home." Klein announced but no reply...
Klein waited for about 15 seconds before he attempted to ring the bell again-
Creak-!
The door opened just as Klein was about to press the bell.
"Amon?! What happened?" the door was barely open a few inches and Klein could barely see a shadowy figure beyond the door.
"Klein..." Although the voice was a bit stranger and huskier than usual, it was undoubtedly Amon's, "Can you come back a bit later...? I... I'm not feeling well."
"Are you sick? Then we should head to the hospital-!" Although Klein had little to no trust in this era's medical techniques, something was better than nothing- and he doubted they would amputate someone for having a cold or something.
Amon remained silent. Did he not want to go to the hospital?
"At least let me in, I can take care of you-"
"No!" A shout.
Klein reeled back, completely in shock.
Amon... Amon never shouted at him- this was the first time Amon had raised his voice at Klein like this.
"...Amon?" Klein asked carefully, his hand clenched over his chest.
"Sorry- I... I just don't want you to catch my cold. That's it- yes, that's it." Amon hummed weakly.
"Amon-"
"Maybe I stressed too much about the wedding planning and that's why I'm sick? Anyways, you should go back home now- I already sent your siblings the finished plans for our wedding ceremony and you should cross-check them with them." And before Klein could say anything else, with a soft "Good night," Amon shut the door and locked it again.
Klein just got locked out of his own(?) home...
Maybe he just needed some space...? Or maybe Amon was too overwhelmed after taking a life that he needed some alone time... Klein knew that when he had taken his first kill it was an incredibly stressful thing, he couldn't get over the sight of body and brain matter strewn across the floor and the smell especially was so rancid and disgusting...
But somehow Klein knew that that couldn't be the case either. Amon just seemed a little too confident and used to this stuff when he so eagerly asked Mr. Fool to take on this mission to kill Qilangos...
He quickly made his plans to visit the gray fog and divine about Amon's well-being there and if Amon was safe after he reached home.
Leonard was in between investigating the clues regarding the entire 'bomb' thing that Klein had managed to uncover when he felt the presence of another behind him.
Since he was already experienced with Amon's taste for flair and being creepy by default, he did not flinch or get scared this time-
"What is it? Married life troubles again?" Leonard asked casually as he cut another clue which ended up in a dead end from his list.
"Leonard," Amon said from behind him.
But unlike usual Amon fashion where he would annoyingly drape himself over Leonard and fuck with him about random stuff and ranting to him about Klein this and Klein that- this time Amon's voice was cold and serious- and even a bit... shaky?
Leonard quickly turned around and almost froze when he saw Amon's face. It was... strange to say the least-
That face, it was completely blank. Amon never had a blank expression on his face ever- it was always like he was having the time of his life messing with everything that had a conscious in this world and that amused smile never left his face unless he was pouting about Klein- and even that was half-hearted and fun abiding.
And... why was he suddenly feeling so light-headed?
"Try not to look at me right now," Amon's voice said as he walked behind Leonard, "I can't really keep my human form correct. There's a chance of you losing control if you look at me long enough."
"Huh- why, wait- what's happening?" Whispered Leonard quickly shutting his eyes.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, "Just taking back my worms of time, all of them are most probably contaminated."
[Did he do something stupid? What is the reason for such extensive contamination and pollution?]
"Old man, you know what he's talking about?" Leonard spoke under his breath.
[Just that it's dangerous for anyone to be close to him right now. I would be more concerned about him but he has the best support in these kinds of situations.]
Huh?
What support?
"Listen carefully Leonard- I'm giving you orders for when I'm gone."
"Gone?"
"A few hours at least- at most half a day or one." the hold on his shoulder became tighter making Leonard flinch a little at the pain- this was the first time Amon had actually hurt him, despite the fact that Leonard had been scared for his life the first few times he had met the Angel. What was happening?
"Sorry I- never mind," Amon released his grip on him, "listen carefully- follow my instructions exactly as I tell them-
"Tonight make Klein investigate the Madam Sharon case with his spirit body-
('Klein can travel the spirit world?!')
"Do not go with Klein on the mission- use the excuse that you're investigating this case relating to the Aurora Society or whatever and dip, make the other Captain go with Klein instead..."
"Why are you asking me all of this-?!"
"Later- I'll explain later- I need to go to my brother as soon as possible and we don't have time-!"
[He's speaking the truth- just one slip up from him and he might destroy this entire city just by existing. Listen to him, Leonard.]
Even the old man was using his real name-
Leonard took in a deep breath and steadied himself, "Okay, continue."
Although his eyes were closed and Amon was behind him, Leonard could almost see the smile on his face- not his usual mischievous amused smile, but a genuine one he sometimes got to see whenever he was gazing at Klein or staring at space as if remembering something or when he was nice enough to allow his clones to flock him and stake claim on his lap.
"Then listen-"
*
*
*
'And thus, The Angel of Time left Tingen unattended and vulnerable.
'How would "His" estranged brother who had been shaking in fear in "His" mother's womb for the past month react when presented with such a perfect opportunity?'
The feather writing on the stone jumped around as if extremely pleased with the perfect plot he had cooked up.