"Sealed Relics?" Ayumi repeated, looking towards the woman and the glasses of water.
Catherine nodded her head and turned towards us, her expression growing slightly solemn and serious. "Sealed Relics—or Relics, are mystic artifacts that us meta-humans use to contain and utilize mystical abilities that can't exactly be harnessed at a weaker level."
"Meta-humans?" Shinso raised an eyebrow, looking towards Catherine.
"Meta-humans are humans who have consumed potions, or any sort of Pathway Fragment—or what we'd call supplements, to gain mystical abilities...though very weak ones."
Catherine turned towards the glasses of water, picking up one of them. Above the glass, a small storm cloud manifested, shortly after, small ice cubes descended from inside the cloud, landing in the water.
"This artifact is the Necklace of Tyrants, Sealed Relic of the Tyrant Pathway." She handed the glass of water to Ayumi. The black-haired girl took it and sipped it, her eyes widening as she looked towards Catherine.
"Tastes better?" Catherine said with a small smile.
"Yeah!" Ayumi took another sip. "It's very cold...and rich."
"Well, water from the Pliniege Sea lacks salt, and all of the underwater foliage does give it a certain tangy flavor."
"That's...seawater?" Shinso looked towards the glass, his face turning slightly green as it contorted.
"If it was, it'd be all over the floor. Of course I had to purify it." Catherine replied, taking a sip of the reddish-golden wine.
"Enough lectures, the kids'll lose their minds." Aaron, who was seated at the table, looked towards Catherine with a casual expression. At that moment, Catherine's face went slightly pale, her eyes widening slightly.
"I can't tell you anymore...I apologize." Her body stiffened as she stood up, approaching the table and sitting down across from Oboro and Aaron. She raised her glass of wine and toasted the rest of the group.
"Lose our minds?" I whispered, looking towards Ayumi and Shinso. The duo remained silent, shrugging their shoulders.
"Aaron's always been a bit of a braggart." Isaiah, who was leaning against the wall, stated. His icy-blue eyes were unreadable as he silently watched the rest of the group sitting at the table.
"What's your problem? Aren't you gonna eat with your friends?" Ayumi asked, leaning back against the couch.
Isaiah's cold and collected gaze shifted to the girl, and he took a long sigh. "I've never shared evening pleasantries with them; they're so raucous."
He leaned back near the fireplace, looking down at a small pile of ash that had accumulated on the stone floor. His gaze seemed to fall silent just like his mouth, but his dried lips parting a millimeter.
"Are you hungry though?" Ayumi asked another question. Isaiah looked up at the girl, his icy-blue eyes flickering with something none of us could decipher.
"Hungry? Of course, I'm hungry."
"Then why not eat?"
At that moment, a cold breeze seemed to wash over the three of us. "Hungry is a term that's...dificult to decipher exactly what it means..." He trailed his pointer finger along the edge of a dusty shelf, the particles flying into the air and resettling moments later.
He brought his dusty fingers to his lips, sucking greedily. I could see Ayumi's skin shiver with goosebumps, and I felt a strange surge of butterflies in my stomach.
"Everyone in this decrepit world is hungry, starving...wanting more than their greedy mouths can bite off of that sourdough we call power."
He looked back at us, his lips twitching downwards into an almost contemplative scowl. "In this world we either have animals or monsters...people may appear trustworthy and open-armed on the skin, but within the confines of their hearts, you'll unravel malevolent truths, you'll discover things about others you never knew were there."
I too felt goosebumps, and I felt a strange urge to defend myself the longer the man was speaking for. Isaiah licked his lips and continued speaking, his voice lowering to a whisper as he approached us. The man knelt down and cupped Ayumi's chin with his wrinkled fingers.
"Humans are akin to monsters where the sun's light doesn't dare to bask." He licked his lips again, a slick sound emanating from his mouth as he parted them again to speak. Ayumi's eyes were wide with terror. In my peripheral vision, I could see Shinso glaring at the man.
He leaned in closer, his hot breath gracing Ayumi's ear. "Sometimes the urge to peel back someone's skin and peer inside at their little brain is enough to enrapture me."
At that moment, a hand wrapped around the back of Isaiah's vest, pulling the older man upwards with effortless strength. Mr. Aizawa glared at the man with fury, his black locks ascending upwards on his head, as his crimson eyes began to glow.
"Aizawa, put him down." Olivia's voice sounded from the table.
"Don't touch her." He growled, his voice a dangerously low growl as he let go of the older man, dropping him to the ground. Aaron immediately stood up, his eyes wide as he made his way over to Isaiah, helping the man up.
"Why you lettin' your grabbers touch my boy Isaiah like that?" Aaron looked towards Aizawa, his tone bitter yet collected.
"Did you see what he was doing to Ayumi?" Mr. Aizawa looked back at the man, raising an eyebrow.
Aaron fell silent, looking at his taller friend as he spoke. "Isaiah's a bit of a curious individual, wouldn't you say?"
He turned towards the rest of us, smiling widely. "You should see his lab back at his place." At that moment, Isaiah delivered a sharp jab to Aaron's side, causing the other man to yelp in pain.
"My studies remain private." Isaiah growled, his hands trembling beside him.
"Well, you're cocked in their lab cuttin' n stuff most of the day." Aaron took a hold of Isaiah's arm, looking down at his wrinkled skin. "You're awfully pale there, buddy. You should really leave that lil' room and go outside more often."
"I think research is more important than frolicking in daylight. It's bitterly cold outside; I wouldn't endure the briefest of intervals out there." He looked out the window, the snowfall having only increased.
"You're only lucky I'm placid enough to attend evening dinner every fifth day."
"Well..." Aaron wrapped an arm around Isaiah's shoulder, smiling. "I think it's time we change your schedule."
Catherine and Carter both stood up, glancing towards the clock situated above the fireplace. "I think it's time we depart, the evening will only get colder, and I don't know how much heavier the snowfall will get."
"But what about our new fella's? Oboro's apartment can't hold all of 'em." Aaron gestured towards our group, which had now collected near the living space.
"Well, we could have them scatter amongst us." Carter prompted, smiling.
"What if one of the little creatures wanders into my laboratory?" Isaiah snarled, looking like he might punch the young man.
"What about the other apartment downtown, the Parterre de Fleurs place." Oboro approached them, giving the others an idea.
"It's affordable, so our pockets won't be ravished if we equally diminish the price amongst us."
The group of adults all collectively nod, tacitly agreeing to the idea. "Since there's six of them, we can purchase three accommodations."
"Sounds like a plan."
...
We all stood underneath a tall, polished building. A large metallic sign was suspended over the door, with Parterre de Fleurs embroidered in golden lettering. He turned back to us and smiled. "I've been here before, they even offer morning breakfast, so you won't have to worry about missing Market Transition."
"Market Transition?" Olivia's voice sounded with curiosity.
"It's not that important, it's just when the porridge they sell in the morning gets replaced with stuff for luncheon." Aaron replied, his lips curling into a smile as he reached out, opening the two large doors leading into the apartment complex.
The inside of the lobby was decked out in a large variety of multi-colored flowers. Some were coiled around pillars, while others were neatly sprawled across the floor. Around me, I could smell pollen. My hand reached for my collar as I pulled it over my nose.
"It's nights like this they distribute complimentary drinking chocolate." He gestured towards the nearest table, where a white teapot, surrounded by numerous teacups, could be seen.
"Drinking chocolate?" Ayumi approached the table, sitting down as she hesitantly took a sip of the liquid. She looked at the rest of us and swallowed the liquid. "It's just hot chocolate."
"Is that what y'all label that?" Aaron crossed his arms, smiling faintly. "You really are from somewhere different."
He approached the counter and paid for the three rooms in a variety of currencies. Some were bronze coins, others were paper bills, and others were small bank notes. The woman behind the counter smiled as she handed the man three room keys. Aaron looked back at us and smiled.
"Your rooms are labeled on the tags. If you need help just holler my name." Aaron handed us our room keys. On the back of the tags were names written down:
Shinso and Isaac
Ayumi and Mr. Ryujin
Olivia and Mr.Aizawa
"How'd you know our names?" Shinso looked up at Aaron, skeptically cocking an eyebrow. The older man fell silent, and he let out an awkward chuckle. "I'll explain later."
Aaron stepped aside, allowing us down the first hallway. I wasn't exactly fluent in French, but the abundance of flowers told me why this apartment had such a name. Me and Shinso located our room, which was situated on the second floor at the end of the hallway. I inserted the key and pushed the door open.
The inside of the room had two beds, a large window facing the city, a counter, and a...fridge?! It was small and made of bronze, with golden trim along the edges of the handle and sides. Sitting beside the machine was a small folded up piece of paper. I felt a surge of curiosity as I approached the paper, unfolding it.
"The Automated Beverage and Victual Cooling Machine was constructed by great inventors from the Katshin Empire. Constructed and tested only twenty years ago, shipment of the item had only begun regular only five years ago. It quickly found its way into numerous houses, apartments and hostels. Here at Parterre de Fleurs, we take pride in owning such a magnificent item!"
"Wow...I didn't expect five hundred years ago to be...so advanced."
"But...there's something off." Shinso approached the machine, opening the door and peering inside. Within the refrigerator were small bottles of liquor. "If the fridge was invented back in this time...why isn't it much more advanced today?"
His eyes widened slightly as he looked up at me, his expression turning a deathly pale color. "What if we're not in the past...but a different dimension entirely!"
...
Olivia slowly opened the closet, peering inside at the robes that had been supplied for them. She grabbed one of them and entered the washroom, closing the door behind her. The inside of the washroom was above average for what she had seen in this kingdom. The wooden floors were almost spotless, and the mirror wasn't cracked like in Oboro's bathroom.
"You seemed tense around that man, Shouta." Olivia said, opening the door as she slipped on the robe, folding up her clothing and putting them aside in a drawer. Aizawa sat on the bed, his expression unreadable as he stared at the wall with a large bookshelf.
After a few seconds of silence, he replied. "It's just my first time...being here."
Olivia chuckled, but her expression betrayed her with concern. "Isn't it for all of us? You were acting...somewhat rational before we ran into that Oboro man in the woods."
The man suddenly turned away, sighing as he stood up. He walked over to the glass doors overlooking the rest of the kingdom. After a deep breath he opened the glass doors and stepped outside, feeling the bitterly cold winds collide with his skin.
"I just...need some alone." He said, not looking back.
"Alright, that's fine." Olivia gave the man a somewhat reassuring smile. She turned her head towards the bookshelf, her blueish-gray eyes scanning the selection of thick, leather-bound books.
...
Inside her office, Cattleya sat in her chair, looking down at her desk as she rested her hands on her hair, twirling her black locks. Her purple eyes drifted up to Carter, who was leaning against the wall with a casual expression.
"You gonna change?" Carter was already clad in night-wear.
"Soon...I'm just thinking." Her gaze fell back down to her desk, her left hand rolling a wooden ball back and forth across the wooden surface.
"You keep your childhood toys?" Cattleya looked towards the ball, before exchanging a somewhat humorous gaze with Carter.
"My clothes, too." Carter's lips curled into a faint smile.
The woman chuckled softly, but her expression quickly turned serious. "Do you have the potions?"
"Stole them from Mother Nature's Church." Carter pulled out a few bottles of glowing liquid contained in jars. One was glowing a bright green, the other yellow, and the last one purple.
"You exchanged information with only those three, but I feel like everyone in their group must consume the potions. Information regarding that stuff corrodes the soul without protection."
"Right...right. I was reckless." Cattleya buried her hands in her ink-black locks, groaning to herself.
"Tommorow we'll give them the potion through divination."