This world is tainted…
…tainted by darkness?
Ha, don't make me laugh.
The instant Tsubasa Seijuku recalled those shrewd words that flowed vividly in her head, she couldn't help but gape for air.
"Haa haa…ha —"
Make no mistake, there was no issue with her breathing, her nostrils were clear and void of any debris in them. And even if that were the case, the pool of cold sweat only worsened with every second that passes. Tsubasa poised upwards over her lower body and whiffed the air intensely. Drawing out her arms in front of her, a sheen of sweat soaked itself through her skin to the cotton sleeves of her pyjamas. Her vision flickered from the after effects of seeping back into reality from her —
"Are you a dream or a nightmare? Quit showing up again!" Tsubasa murmured with bitter angst, which tailored well in complement to her masculine voice where such emotions conveyed appropriately; her fists were clenched and veins popped in places she didn't know they could pop out from. Deriving her aggravation, this was wasn't the first time a dream like this relapsed in her sleep. Before she could ponder more on it; a set of footsteps approached from the other side of her bedroom door. Tsubasa could see the silhouette of feet in-between the small gap between the dark-oak door and floor.
A voice called out to her.
"Is everything all right Detective?" An austere voice of a women, but there still showed escape of slight concern otherwise.
Words never came out her mouth as Tsubasa fell silent, still digesting her reality alongside her implosive frustration. There was a subtle hesitation. Her mouth opened but no words ever surfaced and her arm reached out to the door unwittingly. Tsubasa took a deep breath trying to make her heart steady; which managed to restabilise quickly, her reaching arm returned to her side, then she casted her direction to the right, simply to take a peek out the window.
"Um it's nothing, I thought it was a typhoon but it's just the plain o'l cloudy morning." A pretty shitty excuse for a caterwaul if you ask me, but I can't have my secretary worry so much.
"Is that really the reason why you shrieked like an insolent child? I most definitely won't judge you, that being the case, Detective." Tsubasa couldn't help but twitch her eyes sending her face downcast preparing to erupt after being ridiculed so nonchalantly. That would be the natural result, however instead Tsubasa sat upright like an old person. Her posture kept a stillness begging to be basked in sunlight, a light breeze could sweep her entire being in one wave, there was no sense of energy coming from her; and thus she couldn't muster an appropriate satirical reaction.
"Very well, I'll allow you to observe outside where the rays of sunlight has rescinded in your presence. The grey obscurity is befitting for someone like you." There was no brashness in her voice but the words spoken were painful enough. Tsubasa held her chest animately as if a stake had pierced through her. There was a thundering clap of the storm that brewed outside which just made it all the more theatrical.
"I didn't ask the weather to be like this y'know!" Tsubasa retorted as she snapped off her gaze away from the closed windowsill.
Though she may be right after all, there were gusts of prevailing winds which suffused the air itself like a thick miasma. It was hard to see anything past it. Tsubasa didn't dislike it nor liked the weather. She had an uncanny perspective on it; on some days it would be sunny, others cloudy like today with the exception of a few thunderous hiccups here and there, and some that rained down lightning bringing down a torrential storm capable of flooding the city. I suppose I can relate to that. Tsubasa thought deeply on it, was there a hidden meaning behind why the weather changes like it does? Or was it completely dictated by nature? Tsubasa presumed it was the latter, but it's significance to her was completely unrelated.
She woke up drenched in her own bodily fluids. Disgusting. Tsubasa tossed her blanket aside refusing it to get contaminated with her essence. The amount of sweat that stained her clothes was no different to the amount accumulated when one going for a light jog in the park.
These dreams she had been experiencing were different in a sense when it came to the environment and setting, but there was someone who remained in all of them everytime; funny thing is that Tsubasa knew this person who infiltrated her dreams all to well, but that person was assumed to be dead. Her 'messages' if that's what Tsubasa could call them, always sparked ambiguity between the lines, there were times she'd be mocked, instances were she said something lucrative too. Tsubasa thought back to the one just now, she recalled vividly, 'tainted by darkness? Ha don't make me laugh'. A cold sweat trickled down her dimpled cheeks as the detective recounted that cold sonorous phrase. What it meant borne no meaning to her, normally when Tsubasa encountered dreams like these she'd brush it off as an unconscious effect her brain she'd shoved back to the far depths of her mindscape only to resurface those untimely figments when she dare dreamt. However, this time felt different with this one. That was what she found frustrating. The lack of answer to an unknown question. Tsubasa was unsure what component was so detrimental to her straining awakening this morning. Something, something had to be there. There must have been a logical reason behind her recurring dreams that led her all vexed up. The same words repeated in her head over and over, did the answers she sought out for lie ahead or before those words?
The woman from the other side let out a heavy sigh and those footsteps echoed off into the distance but those movements were halted.
"Oh and don't forget to clean the office area of the Estate, you do remember we are expecting an agent from the Bureau, yes?"
"Yes yes, I'll do the cleaning for the main office—
"And the Arcane?"
"Yes."
"The map room?"
"Mhm." Tsubasa's shoulders slumped downwards in contrast to her head held-high exhaustingly.
"Your corner of the kitchen?"
"That too…"
"The coffee brewing station?"
"Ok, now you're really pushing it!"
It now turned into a little game of ping-pong where Tsubasa was now the one sighing. But doing it abruptly was another blunder. The first blunder was of course communicating with Eleanore at all.
Now what
The sound of footsteps resurfaced. Each stomp per foot grew exponentially more thundering than the giant puffs of the dreary clouds that roamed outside.
The wooden doors of Tsubasa's bedroom came crashing down, not in a literal sense, but it weighed the intensity of Eleanore's wrath.
Secretary: Eleanore Blue
Affiliation: The Detective Estate
Class: Navigator
Divine Aptitude: Viola Sororia
If she wasn't evoking such a menacing aura, Tsubasa was certain anyone who wouldn't know Eleanore intimately would find her lovely—physically speaking. To outsiders, Eleanore looked like a thirteen-year-old girl who carried a sense of innocence in her small size and shape.
She looked opulent with her short, straight violet hair in a bowl-cut that extended to her shoulders and her black working dress that secretaries wore. But her cute looks were completely opposite when it came to the expression she made, a frown so heavy that even her eyes weighed down along with it. The sight of such a girl despite her petite stature, who had large almond-shaped eyes filled with amber, brought an unnerving smile to Tsubasa's face.
"Eleanore! Fine morning we're having, yes?" Indeed it was a miserable attempt to shift topics. Eleanore ignored her words and just stood in front of Tsubasa with her wrists planted by each side of her hips. This was the stereotypical pose that spoke: I am disappointed in you.
"I am disappointed in you."
"Is that any way to talk to the current head of the Estate?" Tsubasa coughed out unassumingly.
The violet girl scoffed. "That is precisely the reason we are in this dilemma! If Master was still here we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. If she were here, this place would't know the fear of abandonment and weakness."
The room fell silent.
It was nothing short of an insult, but it was the truth. That was their current predicament. The Detective Estate's operations would be terminated due to prolonged inactivity; not to say that they couldn't handle it. But legally they couldn't do anything. Without the true master of the Estate, the Bureau of Magic has finally managed to seize the control of the Estate to an extent that they could make them no longer able to conduct investigations. No investigations only meant their source of income was cut off. Unfortunately that's how the world works, those who are gifted had to follow a strict guideline in what they can or cannot do, this being a hurdle Tsubasa had to resolve somehow.
"You're right Eleanore. It's been three years after-all, and I still couldn't find Reia after all this time. This isn't something I expected to happen, but here we are. She probably died already, leaving her problems on us like usual." Tsubasa said apologetically. But at the far edge of the bed frame Tsubasa dug her nails deep into it carving a few scratch marks.
"It's not like we know she died for sure…" Eleanore interjected, her stoic expression softened, she was no longer angry and sat on the bed besides Tsubasa. She turned an angled glance just to meet the Tsubasa's lifeless eyes drained of life, as if all the colour was squeezed out. The weight of the situation dawned on her, as the Detective Estate's future was ultimately decided whether or not Tsubasa could pave the way to victory. But that wasn't everything that bothered her.
"Another dream about Master, I presume?"
"Am I that easy to figure out?" Tsubasa sighed in resignation scratching the back of her head sheepishly, although she didn't give much effort to concealing her discomfort in the first place.
"I've known you for a long time, it's only natural I would know, besides your chronic illness of these so-called nightmares is getting out of hand." Tsubasa felt a pain, so she shied away probably because of the guilt inflicted on Eleanore. It was already enough that it bothered her, but bringing her own problems on someone else was wrong. She had tried therapy and various potions but it didn't help.
"Every time you mentioned of dreaming of her, it's always a different story."
"It's not like it means anything. I've tried thinking back on the message, but nothing pops up." Tsubasa drawled.
"I still wish to hear about it nevertheless." Tsubasa glanced back at Eleanore's comforting gaze. A small smile creaked from her, which widened Tsubasa's eyes just briefly. Being prompted to explain to her she met Eleanore's demand.
"In my dream I was talking to Reia, about what is still a mystery to me. But she said something that sounded ominous: the world is tainted by darkness? Ha don't make me laugh."
"That certainly sounded like her." They both chuckled.
"There was something before that line that seemed important. I never had a conversation with her like that before, it genuinely felt like I was talking to her, the real her." Tsubasa clutched her fists in distress. The distress from before sprung up and not knowing what to do about it just made the feeling worse.
"I see. If that can somehow help us right now that would be greatly desired." Eleanore rocked her legs adjacently up and down, imitating a scissor playfully.
"I'm still no closer to finding her than I tried three damn years ago!" Tsubasa bit her lip in frustration. Eleanore too looked displeased, there was no words she could offer as a consolation other than the ones she had already said in times of the past. Tsubasa may have been dramatic, however this time it was justified. Tsubasa stood in a special dilemma, call it an existential crisis if you will, but being alleged somewhat similar to a terrorist with many crimes she earnestly believed she hadn't committed had brought her fate in the hands of Eldoria's judges and High Magistrates, whereby in the span of three-months she will be tried in court. Three months to clear her name sounded generous, but Tsubasa had nothing on her sleeve, no concrete piece of evidence to clear the misunderstandings of her supposed wrong-doings. The seconds she spent ruminating on it didn't help either.
"Yeah but that's not our only problem I'm afraid. I'm not even listed as a citizen here so that might be a huge factor to consider during my trial." Tsubasa palmed her forehead in disbelief. Another reason why it was so hard to prove her innocence.
"I can't believe Master was so lazy to get you a proper citizenship, unbelievable." Eleanore spat. It seemed they both bonded over the poor antics displayed by their Master whose whereabouts and status were shrouded in mystery. Dead or alive, if she didn't show up then it wouldn't have made a difference. The dark-grey clouds outside had subsided, fading into the atmosphere where the rays of light from the sun shone through it. The spectacle had both Tsubasa and Eleanore admiring it from the bedroom. Now, the chirping sounds of exquisite creatures transformed the gloomy emotions into a day to look forward to.
"It seems the world today is in our favour after all, Detective."
Eleanore squeezed Tsubasa's hand gently to reassure her that everything will be fine. Just as she was about to lean closer, her arms widened and narrowed like a claw, however. She sniffed the air instinctively then retreated, leaping viciously to the far depths of the bedroom. Eleanore's face puffed like she wanted to vomit, but hadn't decided where to do so.
"Detective…when was the last time you took a shower?!" Eleanore's face grew pale, wriggling her face in all directions but wouldn't take her hand away from her mouth in the fear that the pungent smell from the sweaty detective would linger and eventually find it's way through her nostrils once more. The room was circulated by cool air that emanated from blue crystals with a frost-like residue, so Eleanore was baffled to find Tsubasa sweating so much. Only when she came closer to Tsubasa did she notice the stifling smell off her.
"Cleaning yourself might be a good start." Tsubasa nodded shamefully with flushed cheeks.
Before Eleanore shut the door behind her she relayed one last piece of information that sunny morning:
"Do remember that a Bureau agent will come by to check in on us. Please be on your best behaviour and help me finish up cleaning the place."
"Do you know anything about this agent?"
"Not at all. They might try to make things harder for us, be on guard."
"Understood."
As agreed on a contract that Tsubasa signed a while ago. It stated that an agent from the Bureau of Magic would act as an overseer to Tsubasa's actions for the full duration of the three-month window. But it was strangely vague that they didn't know who that person could be. The only thing they knew for now was that someone from the government would arrive to meet them, from there Tsubasa hoped to know more about the conditions of the contract. On paper it sounded like a well-off deal, Tsubasa would be left off the hook for a while until it was time for her trial, she wouldn't be held in custody, she was pretty much a free person, or so she thought. The contract did state somewhere along the lines that a bureau agent would conduct a firm clause of activities designated to the defendant. The thought of what this person could be like interested Tsubasa. Then again, this is the Bureau of Magic, notoriously known for corruption and discrimination alike, she mulled over her thoughts.
With that said Tsubasa decided to follow through with Eleanore's wishes, not like she would want to remain sweaty any longer. She lifted one armpit as closest she could get to her nose. Sniff sniff.
Tsubasa's eyes sprialled all ditzy as she collapsed back onto the bed.