Axel's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he observed her, then he leaned in with anticipation, arms folded .
"Eat first," Amy said, pouring a brown liquid into a glass cup.
She isn't going anywhere and I'm hungry, he thought his stomach growling, might as well eat something, but what is that, alcohol? He picked up the cup in front of him and sniffed it.
No odor, that's new, but what's got her so flustered, he wondered, as he warily took the cup to his lips, and gulped.
The liquid was cold, really cold, yet refreshing in his mouth. He couldn't exactly describe the taste, he could taste multiple fruits in the mix.
Normally you'd expect such a mixture to be off, too much ingredients spoil the brew after all, but it wasn't, the balance was pristine, just at that right spot, a perfect mix of sweet, bitter and sour, weird as that sounded, that's what came to mind.
As he swallowed it, it burned his throat, what a weird liquid. He thought as he looked at the brown liquid through the glass, nodding his head, but it's not exactly alcohol, so why is her cheek rosy? He glanced at Amy.
Then he felt it, a heat rising from his abdomen, flaring up going to his peripherals, then it felt like his pores had opened allowing air in, producing a cooling effect and at the same time his body felt rejuvenated, and he felt pleasure, his cheeks turning rosy.
"Now I see why" he muttered relaxing on the chair, taking in the feeling of euphoria, what exactly is that, he wondered, reaching for the cup for a refill.
He gulped another cup and sat back with a satisfactory sigh, this could be addictive, he thought, Amy chuckling at the sight.
"Try the burger," she muttered, grinning.
Axel picked it up and carefully examined it, nothing new, just a regular burger, or that's what he thought till he bit it.
Axel sighed as he chewed, his eyes closed, is this what they mean by melt in your mouth, his mind going back to food wars, I can die in peace after tasting this, no who am I kidding if somebody kills me now I'll hunt them forever after all they'll be stealing my chance to experience this again.
Amy burst into laughter, "you should see your face," she managed to say in a mocking tone, but Axel couldn't care less, still enjoying his burger.
Amy stopped laughing and picked up another burger, "Honestly not much is known about the Gishiki, except by its wielder," She said, munching the burger, "what we know are rumors and speculations, but…" She paused, her tone serious.
"The council has placed it among the five soluneth, literal world enders," Amy paused, letting it sink in, her eyes dimmed for a second, "so that can only mean it's that powerful, but that also makes me wonder why they haven't sealed it like the others."
Axel swallowed the last piece of the burger and sat back, his eyes on the katana, how, "so you're saying something so small can end the world," He asked.
She shrugged and pushed a braid back, "That's what the soluneth are, but it's shrouded in mystery, the only certainly known thing about it is the wheel like hilt," She pointed at the hilt.
How would something like this end the world, perhaps it could increase the users speed, or slow down earth's time, Axel tried to imagine how, or perhaps it has an extra power.
"But come to think of it," he raised a brow, "how come something so legendary ended up in an anime, considering the secret society memo and all."
"Beats me," Amy shrugged and leaned forward to sip her drink.
Amy slammed the cup and leaned back with a satisfactory grin, "I guess it's about time, he should be done by now." She said, standing up.
"So how much is this," Axel asked, hands reaching into his pocket.
"Ten…" she paused, "just leave five notes on the table," She said and turned to leave.
"That's worth how much in dollars?" Axel asked as he placed five notes and picked up the katana, following her.
Amy started counting her fingers, "about a hundred dollars I guess," she answered, causing him to freeze.
Just five is proportional to hundred dollars, Axel thought eyes wide as he thought about the potential effects on the world economy, and most importantly how he'd spent hundred dollars on just his stomach.
He looked at the man behind the counter who just smiled at him, an amicable smile which Axel felt was the smile of a robber at this point, even though the food was good, wasn't that too much for just burger and wine.
Axel gritted his teeth, jaw tightening, blatant daylight robbery, he was about to say when the bell rang and Amy called out, "you coming,"
Is that why someone whistled? She knew this, Axel realized, looking at Amy who smiled at him and walked out, He looked back at the old man, "come again," the man said with a grin.
Axel scoffed and stormed out, come again my ass, regular burgers are good, he thought, swearing to never enter the devil's kitchen again, oh it was there in the name, 'the devil's kitchen indeed.' what was I expecting.
Axel calmly walked towards the corner alone, Amy had somehow disappeared before he got out of the restaurant, his mind going over what he'd learned so far, Zvezdan, how ancient anima society was, still unbelievable, and the gishiki.
As he turned the corner, he noticed a man dressed in a blue hooded cloak, leaning against the wall, his attention on his phone.
But the most noticeable thing was a spear poking out from his back, sure Axel had seen a lot of people with various weapons and weird things since he got to E town, but this was too cool, the spear had a bluish hue to it, matching with the cloak and the man's blue hair.
Men that's badass, Axel thought.
The man as if noticing his stare, glanced at him, scanning him, his eyes moving down, then for an instant it stopped at his waist.
No at the katana, the man looked back up at Axel. I don't like this, he suddenly got an ominous feeling and started hurrying off before the man even said anything.
Axel felt a shiver travel up his spine as he heard, "hey," behind him.
Axel took a deep breath and glanced back over his shoulder, the man was no longer leaning, his phone no longer on his hand, "That's the Gishiki katana right?" He asked.
Axel felt really bad about this, he got a sense of deja vu, after all it was a similar question that ended up with a gunman trying to kill him before.
He looked towards the World Greatest Delivery Service (WGDS) building, the bright neon sign, not too far off, contemplating whether he should run. He took a deep breath, deciding against it, let's not jump to conclusions.
"You okay?" The man asked with a smile.
"Yeah," Axel answered.
I can't pretend like I don't know what he's talking about, the hilt had already betrayed him, Axel thought, so the best thing to do is, "Oh this, I've been getting that question a lot lately." he chuckled.
Axel raised the katana to chest level and scratched his head, "but sorry to disappoint, it's just for a performance, a prop, I'm an actor you see."
"I see," the man muttered, "but it's quite realistic, mind if I check it out, it isn't everyday you see such a prop of the gishiki afterall."
Axel paused and lifted his hand up, as if looking at a wrist watch, glad he had a hoodie on as he pulled the sleeve back a bit, "I won't mind, but unfortunately I'm quite late," Axel answered, shaking his head, "perhaps after the show you can see it at the WGDS theatre." he said, great work using the abbreviation right in front of him, Axel cursed, and started walking away.
Axel breathed a sigh of relief as he did not hear anything, I really was just overthinking it, he thought till a cold hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks, he gasped.
Axel glanced at the hand, it was cold, radiating a cold aura, even through the fabric of his hoodie, he could feel it, definitely not ordinary, sh*t, he cursed, the burdens of being right.
"I don't know a WGDS theatre and that's not a theatre is it," the man's voice came from behind him, "besides it wouldn't take time, I'll just take a look." The man reached for the katana.
As his hand made contact, thrum, the katana hummed with energy, pulsing out the next second.
"Huh," Axel muttered, turning around to see the man flying back, no he was flung back, one second he was touching the katana, the next he was flying back.
The man flipped midair and graciously landed, his hood covering his head, at that instant an explosion came from the left, a few blocks away, blowing up buildings, the ground trembling from the explosion.
Axel looked at the rising smoke, a dust cloud over the location of the explosion, the smell of smoke thick in the air.
But he had bigger problems, his attention turned back to the man as he straightened up, clicking his tongue, his face scrunched in annoyance, removing his spear.
"Goddamn Zero, buffon can't even understand what discreet means," the man muttered, looking at the dust cloud, then back at Axel, spear in hand.
That's it, Axel thought and spun around, dashing for the WGDS building but he slammed into a really hard wall, falling back, except there wasn't supposed to be a wall behind him.
Axel rubbed his bloodied nose looking at the wall, which was oddly transparent, a cold chill coming from it. This wasn't a normal wall, it was an ice wall, but how, when, was it him, Axel wondered, a sense of unease creeping in.
Looking around, there was no way to pass, the wall seemed to still be growing, completely blocking his way to the WGDS, its distorted silhouette, and neon lights visible through the transparent ice.
Axel unsheathed the katana and stood up, ready to cut the ice, "that won't work," the man's chilling voice came from behind him.
"You aren't going anywhere."
Axel glanced over his shoulder, noticing a trail of ice leading from the wall to the man's spear lodged in the ground as he deliberately and slowly pulled it out.