Xiezhi
Adjusting the collar of my garb one last time, I sighed, wishing the other two were here to make this simpler.
I took one last glance around, hoping they were just running late, even if that was impossible for Eros to comprehend. Still, fate had dictated that I go at this one alone, so with great reluctance and heavy mopping, I stepped up to the door before gently and quietly pushing it open. Though I suppose it didn't matter how quiet I was with it, given who this Authority was, but there was never not a reason to try.
After closing the door behind me, I admired the well-lit room around me, because while I may not like being here with every fiber of my existence, it had its own unique charm and comforting feeling that just screamed familiarity.
There was no fancy equipment, sterile white walls, spotless long table, or overshadowing pressure of meeting one of your bosses; it was just a room, one to relax and speak in.
Now, at first glance, most would see this and think nothing of it, but with my abilities, I've seen far more than someone of my rank should know about. I mean, sure, I was one of the top members in the organization, but even we are restricted from things. However, I suppose it's because I'm privy to almost every bit of knowledge around here that there were a few older Authorities who thought of me as a prop Authority, or in simpler terms, an unofficial Authority. And as this unofficial Authority, I had to deal with what the Authorities dealt with, aka problematic situations, such as 'Pale Alpha', a threat that had the potential to spiral into a 'Null Cite', and for context, 'Null Cite' is the highest code on the charts, one that indicated a world-ending threat; so far only Alice has ever triggered such a thing.
Matter of fact, she was the reason the ritual I was participating in earlier was even a thing to begin with; her very existence was seen as a threat to almost every one of the Authorities, with a few minor exceptions being the one I'm getting ready to speak with and another who had just been made an Authority a few years ago, her visage taking up the empty space caused by Pandora's Box.
"Well, well, well, look what da' dickless cat dragged in. Say, that tower of a divi; how'd that cunt react when tha' coot a' dirt I call an equal spoke to ya?"
I sighed before turning to the sudden voice, its form somewhat scratchy while being smooth enough to sound artificial.
After giving a quick and somewhat audible two-finger salute, I spoke.
"Authority 021, {Kaichi}, rank >Three< reporting for code parameters; how may I help you today?" I said in the most suck-up teacher's pet tone I could, because while Sir Richard isn't someone who cares about such petty and useless things such as formalities, the small recording devices hidden in almost every nook and cranny do, and those audio clips go directly to 092, a stuck up for the rules the group governs.
Rolling his metaphorical eyes, Sir Richard went on while continuing to relax on his couch. "For fuck sake's kid, can you not with that right now? I'm tryin' not to deal with another stuck-up today."
My brow rose without question, curious as to what he meant by that.
"Sir, if I may be so bold, did you shut them off?"
He grinned ear to ear. "Please, kid, I ain't trying to piss off the pussy cat; Na, I just used a bit of... misdirection if you would, fucked around with their insides, nothin' too noticeable."
After a moment of silence on my part, I sighed in relief before trotting over, my form taking a seat across from his own, admiring the change in wear since the last time we met.
His attire wasn't too different from what you'd see an office worker wearing, though I suppose the blue suit he was wearing could be considered out of the ordinary, and pairing that with white gloves doesn't help the notion either.
Honestly, the only normal-looking parts of his attire were the black dress shoes and fancy monocle. However, it was under my personal opinion that it was his long, dulled, near-ashen blond hair that brought the look together, giving him the appearance of a rough yet efficient employee.
I shook my head before I could get too far off track.
"Right then, what unfortunate event do you have for me today?"
He chuckled while sitting up from his previously prone position.
"Wanna take a guess?"
Clicking my teeth, I shot without question.
"Someone trying to make another black hole?"
"Nope," was all I got in response as I continued.
"Ok, what about someone trying to create another world-ending artificial myth? Last I checked, a few people were talking of attempts."
Richard huffed," Nope; I dealt with 'em bastards myself, and I can't say they'll be remembered."
My twin sunned eyes narrowed while my horn glowed; cheating was easy for me.
The glow of my glass-like horn put a devilish smile on his face that had me second-guessing my choice, but it was already too late now, as the truth was revealed to me in its entirety.
Immediately, irritation filled my head.
"You can't be fuckin serious Richard, literaly anyone else would be better suited for this code than I, hell, even Pandora would work."
021 Bellowed with laughter as he struggled to catch his breath under my dismay, it got to the point that he literally collapsed on his side in a humorous fit, however, it wasn't long after when he put an end to it and continued with a tone full of mirth, and light hearted mockery.
"What, never seen an Eldritch horror in a dress before?" His laughter continued at his own comment, but only for a moment.
My brow twitched.
"Must you joke about her so carelessly like that? You and I both know she'd have your head for the comment if she ever heard it."
His grin didn't falter, nor did his carefree tone as he continued.
"Well then, it's a good thing she ain't here, en'nit."
I groaned while dragging a hand down my face before being interrupted by the continuation of the conversation.
"Anyway, the reason your high ass was picked was because you, spite' what you might say, are the most qualified for this type of code; ya' sure, Eros and Pandora might do better, but that's only a chance; Divi boy has beaf with the Eldritch lass, which can affect the main goal of the mission, and Pandora, bless the sweet lass, isn't nearly ready enough to come face to face with 'Her', and it doesn't help that She already seems weary of Pandora despite supposedly being unaware of her existence."
His reasoning made too much sense for me to be comfortable with because it painted a clear and reasonable picture of why they chose me for this mission.
"And then ther's you, the one person in our little charade of power-hungry cunts who has enough structure to accomplish this mission without getting or drawing us into any unnecessary conflict, and with your broken ass ability to quite literally look into the air for answers, your nothin' but perfect for this."
I noted the way he said power-hungry but decided not to delve into it at the moment; however, I'd come back to it later, as I had an eerie feeling it was connected to the ritual we were being forced to take part in; for now, there were other things to be asked.
"Alright, I see your point, but can you at least tell me the reason we need to watch her? From what I saw, she was quite literally just fooling around with friends, and sure, a few thousand people are going to die, but that's still better than the entire planet; why risk antagonizing her?"
Richard was quiet for a moment, his invisible gaze seeming to linger on ethereal words and thoughts as he butchered his way to the right words and way to speak them.
He sighed, "Kid, 'Alice' isn't going to be the one you're watchin' most of the time, instead, it'll be a lass she's with, 'Claire Fauns'."
My eyes went wide in shock.
"Are you sure that's right? Because from what I saw, I ended up following Alice the entire time; not once did I follow her companions for more than a moment."
Richard shook his head, "Kid, you may have used your power for the littl' guessing game, and while getting it partially right is still correct in a sense, this is Alice we're talking about; anything impossible is possible when it comes to her; altering reality and shaping others' perceptions, even in the future, would be child's play to her."
My shock persisted for a moment longer before it eventually turned into confusion.
"Wait, if it's just a mission to watch her companion, then why designate it as a Pale Alpha? Wouldn't it be better to make it a 'Chamber Lapis'?"
He was quick to nod before elaborating.
"Not too ong' ago, the noobie was attacked."
Every fiber of my folklore body immediately rose in severe cation in response to the news, as to attack one of the Authorities, even the newer one, meant that whoever did it was powerful, maybe even up to my level, and that was a scary probability.
"Attacked?"
"Hm, but that in itself is where the problem lies, because it wasn't a direct attack, it was an indirect attack, one that came from the very fabric of our world being tampered with."
My brow furrowed. "You mean someone messed with the concept bundle?"
"Spot on," came his quick confirmation.
The itch attacking my glass-like horn was ignored as I continued my questioning.
"But, how does that have anything to do with 066?"
021 grinned, "What, you think your family trio are the only trump cards we have? We Authorities have to at least have some power to back up our titles."
My brow was getting no breaks at the moment as they tightened further in more shock.
"Her power... Does it extend to the concept bundle? Is that even possible?"
He nodded. "Indeed, but even I don't know how far that extent goes." A sigh accompanied the period as he went on with the problem.
"But, what I do know is that concept creation and destruction can an' will negatively affect her."
"That's... something." I paused in thought for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to that, and I eventually did. "So what does it do to her? And what do concepts have to do with Alice's companion?" I did not like the possible conclusions I was quickly coming up with.
Richard shrugged, "Well, 066 described it somewhat like she had hundreds of other copies of herself, so I'd imagine each individual counterpart is tied to a specific section in the concept bundle, and when dos' sections are added to or taken from, it creates an imbalance in her soul, thus resulting in pain to da' core, which in their case, would be 066; and as for Alice's companion, we've got no clue how she ties into it: we're only runnin' off of the specific soul guard 066 had provided of the one who tampered with it, and that signature all but points to the lass, Claire Fauns."
I sighed. "So, we're running the potential of annihilation over hopes, dreams, and a soul guard; honestly, that seems on point."
021 flicked his hand dismissively before continuing. "Don't think of it; you'll run da' risk of lobotomy due to stupidity."
My sunned orbs narrowed in confusion. "You're calling yourself stupid?"
He chuckled. "Hey now, I may be an arrogant bastard with a minor speech tic, but what I'm not is stupid; there are some things in place that if carried out successfully during your mission, will make all the risk involved more worth it than finding a pound of Emerald Diamonds."
After a moment of silence, I opened my mouth to speak, only to be swiftly interrupted by a knock on the office door, its form soon followed by another feminine voice.
"Authority 021, your presence has been requested by Authority 091, effective immediately; he asks you to accompany me to his floor; delay will not be tolerated."
My previous words were lost as our yapping session seemed to have come to an end, and now I was just watching as Sir Richard took deep, long breaths to calm himself. He was never a fan of 091, and that notion was never more clear than now.
However, after that short scene, 021 stood, his steps eerily silent as he walked over to the door, its form being swiftly opened as he stepped out to follow the Rot member.
But before he started to leave, he turned to me.
"Xiezhi, I'm sure you know these words well, and I'm sure they will follow you through heave and earth, but I'll say them anyways; don't fuck around on this mission." He left after saying his farewell.
His parting words were indeed something I knew by heart, but to hear him say it out loud made things all the more pressing.
Dragging my hand down my face, I sighed while looking at the blank ceiling.
'Why 'Eko' just, why?'
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Ms. Circle
Each step sent an involuntary chill shuddering down my spine as each one had me reminiscing on the trials and tribulations I had to go through while being here, and each wound and moral-shattering blow they hit me with.
As soon as my foot fell on one of the four rings of appraisal, the world around me lit up in fiery red, one that roared with furious hate.
It hurt to know Abbie didn't pass even the first layer, but there was nothing I could do to force it to accept, so I took a step back before biting my cheek in dismay, the obvious of what needed to happen plain for even the blind to gaze upon.
With reluctance clearly placating my actions, I set him down on the ground and took another step forward. My obsidian orbs only lingered for a mere moment before an unknown force had my gaze locked forward, an invisible matter making it impossible to do anything other than look at what lay in the center of the imposing rings.
Stepping forward, I hesitantly accepted that he'd be ok, as there was nothing but him, me, and 'Her' inside this space, and that fact would likely remain true for as long as we were here.
The outermost ring lit up a vibrant green when I stepped past this time, its form sending a liquid green stream through the stone floor that traveled through the other rings and into the center, only ending when it filled in one of the four dips set symmetrically around an orb of pure white floating in the middle.
The other rings had similar reactions, if not even brighter than the last, until the last ring was eventually lit.
Knowing how dramatic 'She' liked to be with her appearance, I retreated back to the third ring before bracing on one knee; my only arm crossing my vision as it too did its part in the protection part.
However, it was after a few seconds of just complete silence that I noticed how the orb barely even twitched.
There was no grand exhibition, nor was there the eerie voice that would have followed; it was just silence, and that was arguably worse.
With cautious eyes and hesitant steps, I stood back on my feet before moving forward, my form once again haunting just before the pure orb of white, as the only thing I could notice on its surface were cracks that were too small to see through; I did note how ever so slowly they were becoming bigger.
Bringing my arm up, I very patiently dug my slightly pointed nails into its surface, the point of contact immediately splintering inward as I continued with more pressure.
It wasn't long before the shell of white gave way to the entity inside, and this left me to stare at its crumbling form as each piece that fell revealed a stunning beauty taller than Ms. Grace, if not reaching Abbie's, completely bathed in near-translucent silk.
The eyes of this beauty quickly snapped to me as I felt an overwhelming sense of fear shoot through my body, as if one wrong look or even breath, and I'd be turned into a pile of gore for the disrespect.
But, even despite this, part of my mind was focused on her beauty; with each sway of her Maroon orbs captivating every part of my mind that was paying attention.
The experience was made further distracting when one noticed how she lacked pupils, and that little detail alone seemed to turn the orbs into bottomless pits you could stare at for hours on end without ever running the risk of getting bored.
However, whenever you did manage to free yourself from that honey trap, you'd find yourself stepping into another as you marveled at her translucent body, so captivated by its perfect, near-invisible form, you'd fail to notice how her eyes would stare at you with unbridled hunger and rage.
After that, it would usually be too late for you to fix your act, as the last thing you'd see would be her murky silver Kimono and gelatin-like silver hair, both only a shade darker than her silver-colored visage, as the red edges of both would flash before you'd lose your very existence; you wouldn't even have the right to enter the cycle of reincarnation as your soul would be stripped to pieces and used in one of her grotesque creations; truly it was a fate too cruel for even the darkest of creatures.
I was ripped from my thoughts of her as her voice pinged out, its form slow and lethargic yet carrying a tone that demanded absolute stillness in its wake.
"Ah, if it isn't... My student," she hummed a sweet and tired tune, "I remember when you were just so... Little," she grinned, "My, my, how the eons like to fly..."
Kneeling before her, I spoke with both great fear and overwhelming relief; it had been so long since I had heard her voice, and hearing it again just made me happy.
"Master, I'm sorry to interrupt your sleep, but I didn't know what to do when-"
"Halt your speech, my little one... I am very well aware of your reason for your interruption..."
Ignoring how she cut me off, I went silent. I had forgotten; it was foolish to think she didn't know something, but my skills with her were rusty, so I hoped she could forgive my folly of words.
She continued.
"I must say... Your choice in mate is... Abstract...," she hummed, "but I'm not one to judge the taste of mortals; no, your kind already does enough... of that..." she smiled, a teasing smile, "plus, the boy has a feeling to him, something that will prove him a fine specimen in your future... aspirations."
My brow knitted.
"If I may be so bold, master, what do you mean by that?"
Her smile didn't change as she dropped a hint.
"Let's just say, two might just become three, in the presence of... the."
Ah, it seems her love for rhymes has remained, that's nice... My eyes bulged as a nuclear blush formed on my face.
"Master! Please don't imply such things so callously!" and just like that, every bit of formality left me as I reverted back to the child-like attitude I had when I first entered this place as a child.
Giggling softly, the master beckoned me forward with a light stroke of her palm; I quickly obliged as my formality was returned to me in great haste and embarrassment.
Upon closing the few-inch gap between us, she pulled me chin-first into a kiss that lasted no more than half a second before she pulled back while licking her lips, leaving me stunned in silence as she continued speaking.
"Your power... has grown far beyond what I thought possible when I gifted you a fragment of my unused soul... It's to the point where even I can't differentiate what was once mine from your own...," she sighed in what sounded like joy, "the taste is also new... usually I taste of Lime, but you've turned something so bitter into something as sweet as Apple... It's honestly a feat I'd reward you for if I still had my power."
My shell-shocked paralysis dissipated immediately after she spoke those words, as a morbid and worrying question popped up in my mind.
"Your powers... gone?"
There was no pause in thought nor hesitation as she answered my question with clear and weighted words, their forms coming from a tone as gentle as silk, yet falling like stones in a stream.
"Indeed, little one... my power... was brought forth into the realm of... reality, and is currently residing in a statue made up of death and decay... however, my power can not be contained by anything in our fiction... And it's only due to me extending my will into reality that it has not broken out into the open, for if it does, everything shall be returned to the start, and the chime shall be re-looped."
"Master..." I said with clear worry in my voice.
She seemed to snap out of her storytelling persona as she spoke a bit more clearly.
"Right... I suppose to put it in simpler terms, should my power evade my grasp even for a moment... It will destroy the veil of time and space, locking our universe into an eternal loop that will never have a true beginning or end."
I groaned. "Master, I wasn't trying to get further elaboration on this, quite frankly, terrifying situation: I want to know if this situation is under your control, I want to know that my entire life up to this point, and the people I've gained in it, won't be wiped away because some dumbass decided it would be a good idea to bring about the world's destruction via incompetence."
I rose from my kneeling position during that last part, my emotions, which were usually kept under lock and key, rising up in protest due to all the things happening today; this new information was what broke the camel's back, and the only way it could be repaired is by knowing that everything wouldn't be undone in a flicker of candlelight.
Luckily, it seemed my worries would be calmed via reassurance.
"Your heart is becoming gluttonous... little one. But you need not worry about the... Unthinkable... As whoever summoned my power down to reality also tried to pull my soul along with it... I resisted because I felt your approach draw near... but I feel their attempts aren't so much for my power as it is for my complete presence... this invites the knowledge of someone understanding the danger of my power... and the consequences of not having something to control it; I feel they will attempt another summon for my soul, one I will go along with as I have heeded my hearts desire to see you again and am no longer tied to my own hearts gluttony... so please, hurry along with that third existence; I wish to see its life force settle before I'm put into another rock."
The knowledge of my loved ones and friends' safety put a gentle smile back on my face as I resumed my kneeling position in front of her, notably ignoring how my face was again nuclear under Master's last desire that implied something I'd really like to avoid doing in front of her.
"But why, little one? It's not like I haven't seen you do it... before."
"Master?" I questioned, not understanding what she was questioning.
She giggled before gesturing for me to rise again: an action I did with little complaint, as she spoke during the action of doing so.
"It is nothing... little one, just peering into something deeper... Now, why don't you fetch your... Claim... I'd very much like to meet the soul of the one who caught you."
I smiled while completely disregarding what Master was questioning beforehand, my intention more in favor of showing off Abbie or at least showing him off when I fetched his unconscious form from the floor twenty paces from my rear.
I've never been more excited to do something in my life.
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Engel
I listened without complaint as Oliver went over almost every detail of our new and, in his words, healthy relationship; there wasn't a chance in hell our newfound relationship was healthy. He liked to ignore my consent, and I liked it; 'Eko', I hated that I liked it.
But that wasn't really the problem I cared about right now, as Oliver was approaching the more... unsavory details, and that fact scared me to no end, but only because it would become a news headline if the press got hold of the information; it had nothing to do with the fear I had for Oliver getting in trouble, not one bit; he could rot in a cell for all I cared... as long as I was in there too, but only because I want to be the one tormenting him, nothing past that.
My hand struck out as he reached the part with the shovel, and how he caved in my skull; my palm remained firm as it gripped his surprised form with vigor; the surprise was swiftly replaced with amusement as my forest green eyes looked up at his crimson orbs with warning, and even some hints of fear as they pleaded for a pause; it was already bad enough that a few random students were staring at my form sitting on his lap; it would be a nightmare if they heard the story as well.
"Please," I whispered, "at least wait until class is over."
He raised a brow before speaking plainly, utterly ignoring discretion in favor of being open with his words.
"But why? We have fifteen minutes before it starts, and that should be more than enough time to go through the events of at least a quarter of that activity."
I groaned when his statement started a whispering shroud of curiosity in the crowd of nosy idiots, before continuing to at least keep my own voice from being heard, even if it would likely be revealed indirectly via Oliver's responses.
"That's not the point, you idiot; I just don't want so many random people to know such disturbing facts, and since I know I can't stop you from telling the other two, I at least want to be able to stop you from telling the entirety of our class, which will inevitably reveal it to the entire school, and maybe even the city; 'Eko' forbid the media got ahold of it."
My piece on the matter was spoken, and all that was left was to wait for his, something that didn't take very long at all.
"Oh! I think I get it now! You're scared I'll get in trouble, aren't you?"
My teeth clicked as I continued in my ever-quieting tone.
"Like hell, I'm scared for a piece of sh-"
"Just say you're afraid of me getting in trouble, and I'll hold off until I can get us four somewhere more private."
"Make that Five, you odd bastard," came the voice of Ms. Thavel as her eyes and focus remained on the whiteboard."
Oliver rolled his eyes before rephrasing. "Alright, I'll hold off until I can get us, 'Five', a more private space to talk in; but, only if you admit you're afraid for me."
I cursed Ms. Thavel to hell and back for her interruption as it had even more of the ever-growing crowd of students whispering to each other in shock and exasperation, subsequently making this already stressful situation a thousand times worse than it already was.
"Alright... Alright, I'm scared, ok, I'm scared you'll get in trouble," my voice was barely reaching whisper level at this point; mute was a better fit for my tone. "So please, Oliver, just wait until we aren't surrounded by people, I beg."
Oliver seemed to be satisfied with my admission, if the devilish smile paired with pink was anything to go by, but it was even more of a comfort when Kevin spoke up, seeming to represent his little duo with Asrel.
"It seems your 'partner' is uncomfortable with your grand reveal, and that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth personally; I'm no longer interested in the subject of it, so let us discuss this topic another time; wouldn't you agree, Asrel?"
The girl became my and Oliver's focus as she stared down our near-intertwined pair, her teal orbs seemingly running through every possible outcome before eventually settling on a set of words that made me sigh with relief while making Oliver huff in slight dismay.
"I will agree with Kevin on this one; I know a fair share about being in uncomfortable situations and hating every second each time: it would be hypocritical for me to force another into the same position out of my own curiosity." Her tail nodded along.
"However." My body froze. "I can't say I'm entirely against continuing, so I'd like to know more about both of your situations after we find somewhere more discreet to discuss it..."
Her hand suddenly shot up as her tail nodded in favor of what I could only imagine was a thought or idea.
"Yes, Asrel?" Ms. Thavel quickly questioned.
"Ms. Thavel, I'd like for you to allow me to bring some friends over; would that be acceptable?"
Ms. Thavel's orbs of hazel rinsed over our little group, for a brief second before she sighed and turned back to the board, along the fate of what I knew was coming.
"I see no problem with that, but only for a few hours, as I'd like to have the school's most troublesome pair to ruin the school, and not my home."
"Ohh, Ms. Thavel, you wound me so," Oliver spoke while silently accepting the situation as it was; unfortunately, he didn't want to accept my escape from his lap, so I remained trapped.
Asrel continued.
"Acceptable terms; is everyone in favor of this outcome?"
There was a brief pause before we nodded, some with more reluctance than others.
'Better than the alternative, I guess.'