Eric and Max returned to their apartments. It was night already, and Max and Eric were tired—especially Eric, for he had fought and killed an assassin girl and had used quite a lot of his energy. He needed rest to recover.
"Rest well," Max told Eric before going back to his apartment. Eric took out his key and opened the door to his apartment. He removed his shoes and walked in to see Ruby preparing dinner.
Ruby looked at him and greeted him, "Welcome home." Eric smiled at her, thanked her, and then asked, "What is it for dinner?"
"Beef Bourguignon," Ruby replied.
"A new recipe? What is it exactly?" Eric asked.
"You act so smart all the time, but don't even know this? Looks like that video titled 'rare Paris food your husband will love' was right. It is nothing but a red-wine beef stew, but its taste is very rich," she explained.
Eric went to the shower to take a shower and refresh himself as Ruby set up the food on the dining table. After taking a refreshing shower and feeling like a new person, Eric walked out, put on simple nightwear, sat at the dining table, and started to eat the Beef Bourguignon—or whatever it is. Call it whatever you want; I don't care.
They both ate their dinner silently for a few seconds until Ruby broke the silence by speaking. "So, uh... You remember what I said this morning? Don't take it seriously, okay?" she said in a slow whisper with an embarrassed tone. Eric looked at her while chewing and was confused at first—"What is she talking about?"—until he realized. "Do you mean you don't want children?" he asked with a simple tone and straight face.
Ruby's face became red as she screamed at him with clenched hands, "Do not say that with such a face!" Eric chuckled at her cute acting and asked, "So, how did your day go? Good?"
"It was boring. With you not being around, the apartment feels lonely—not like it is any louder with you around, but still," she replied in a high-pitched voice. "That is interesting. Normally, you wouldn't complain about being alone all day and just watch TV. What happened?"
"I don't know. I just feel scared and weird, like I can't explain it clearly, but it feels like... uh, I am in danger or someone is looking at me when you are not around," she explained. "Do you think the apartment is haunted?" Eric asked with a worried tone, and his brows furrowed a little. "Are you stupid? Ghosts don't exist," she thrashed him. "I have heard they do," Eric replied as a matter of fact.
"No, they do not!" Ruby screamed at him. "Haha," Eric laughed at her and continued eating his dinner. "So how was your first day as a police officer?" Ruby changed the topic. "You didn't ask if we got rejected?" Eric asked a different question. "No way you would fail with all those preparations of yours—not like I don't believe in you. So how was it?" Ruby stated her belief in her husband and asked her question again so as to get an answer from him. Her husband was quite good at deflecting, you see. "It was okay, nothing much. I just helped an old lady cross the road, caught a few thugs, helped a kid not get hit by a car, and nothing much." Ruby stared at him with squinted eyes, and Eric asked, "What?"
"Your sense of 'nothing much' feels distorted," she replied. After dinner, they watched a movie for an hour and a half, and Ruby, after giving a hug and kiss to Eric, went to sleep. "You are going to stay up for a while?" Ruby asked as she tied her hair in a bun, getting ready to sleep. "Yes, I have some work and thinking to do," Eric nodded and replied. Ruby walked away as she said, "Make sure not to stay up too late."
"I won't," Eric replied and sat down at the table in the living room, staring outside the balcony, thinking of his entire day and what preparations to make and what measures he could take in these two days in case the trapper actually wanted to harm him. The voice inside his head couldn't be communicated with and only increased his intuition and premonition, gave him visions in his dreams, and told him things to do and warnings on rare occasions. Eric was deep in thought as he gazed at the night sky—the countless stars and the bright full moon hanging in the sky, giving serenity to Eric.
Every night, Eric liked to sit down and just gaze at the sky for hours. This gave him as much peace and calm as when he was with Max. It had become an unchangeable part of his life.
Suddenly, his premonition was triggered, and he looked at the sofa. He was ready to take out his liquids and attack at any time. The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. There was no one, but Eric kept staring with an emotionless face and a sharp gaze. The light of the lamp by the sofa flickered a few times until it stopped working. Suddenly, the lamp lit again, and on the sofa was a baby.
The baby had short red-raven hair that was still growing and was just like a baby's—because he was a baby, no shit. The baby had black eyes like the abyss itself and an emotionless face as he stared down at Eric. He emitted a dangerous vibe himself, as he could attack at any time.
Both Eric and the baby stared at each other silently for a few seconds. At first, the atmosphere was heavy, but after no one attacked the other, the atmosphere became a little lighter, and it felt like an adult and a baby were in a staring competition.
"May I know your name?" Eric broke the silence by speaking up first with a polite tone. He didn't worry about Ruby hearing him speaking to someone due to the effect of uniqueness of his pathway.
"My name is Michael Voyage as of now. There is no need for you to tell me yours; I already know a bit about you," the baby replied and reciprocated Eric's respect by speaking in a polite tone, too. The heavy and dangerous vibe coming from him lessened a lot.
"May I know your reason for visiting so late at night? It is not okay for babies to stay outside or even trespass on someone's property without their parents. Oh, sorry—your parents are already dead. I suppose you were the reason?" Eric spoke with a respectable tone and even made sarcastic jokes.
"You supposed right, but I am not here to make jokes for now, third one," the baby talked back and put quite the emphasis on the last two words.
"I am sorry if I offended you by speaking the truth, and I also apologise for not knowing what you mean by 'third one'. Please explain," Eric apologised and asked.
"I also don't know what it means, but you will learn what it means eventually. Even if you don't, it's not like I care. The reason I am here is simple: you must have been invited to meet by the one who trapped the second one, right?" the baby, whose cute voice was overshadowed by the dangerous vibe he emitted, asked. "That is right. So let me guess—you are here to give me aid or invite me to your organisation?" Eric asked as he cocked his head to the left.
"That is right. Don't you know what the trapper wants? He trapped your friend while you were trapped and attacked. Even though he let the third one go, you can't be certain that he will not bring you or your family harm. That is why I am here to give an invitation for an alliance and will back you up while you are in Paris. It is important for you, considering you are the only ones in Paris with no organisation backing you up and having a backer." The baby agreed and tried to persuade Eric.
"You are right, but may I know which organisation you are from? And what rank are you? You do not need to tell me, of course, but if you want to build trust, then you will have to disclose some information," Eric demanded with a smile.
"Sure, I don't mind disclosing some information, considering I have a backer and I can call him to help or even save me if I ever get in trouble." Voyage said as he turned his body to Eric, put his chubby right hand to his chest, and introduced himself. "My name is Michael Voyage, an Aura user belonging to the Birth Pathway. My rank is Rank 4, a Lysi Nova—same as yours. I am representing the Divine Karma organisation and, on behalf of my organisation, invite you to join us or make an alliance with us."
"I do not mind making an alliance with you and being on neutral terms, but what is it that you can give me? As far as I remember, out of the four great bodies of the Aura region, you guys are the weakest, whose leader has been missing for over a thousand years," Eric asked with a mocking tone.
Voyage didn't feel angry or infuriated with Eric's comment. He opened his mouth to reply, "That is right, but we are still one of the four great bodies of the Aura region and have remained one even after a thousand years of our leader's disappearance. We have a lot to offer and benefits to give to lone wolves like you. We may not have the most resources or be the strongest among the four, but we definitely have more than the small and insignificant organisations." Voyage persuaded Eric again, and Eric just stayed silent. He knew that Voyage was going to say more.
Voyage continued, "Also, out of the four great bodies, we are the first ones to approach you. Tell me, did any other organisation send anyone to have a one-on-one talk with you? They didn't. In fact, the organisation sent someone to trap you and even to assassinate you. If it had been a Lysi Nova or Hypernova, would you have survived? The Truth Seekers are not even interested in talking with you and are doing their own thing. The trapper, who might have been from Lumenia, trapped the second one, making him unable to come help you, and even set up a meeting with no consideration of your feelings. Their arrogance due to their higher strength can be seen clearly. Out of the four great bodies, the Divine Karma is the one reaching out a hand and offering our aid and to be your backer, endangering ourselves. Isn't that enough?" Voyage said to Eric with a persuasive tone. However, Eric could see their plot clearly.
Eric put his hands together and placed them on the table as he sat straight and spoke, "I appreciate your sentiment and the risks you are taking, but isn't the reason that you want more Aura users who can help you obtain what you want in Paris? If all four great bodies are sending their Aura users and members of all ranks, then the end goal must be quite huge, and you—the Divine Karma, being the weakest—want to save your Aura users, considering your already low manpower, using loners like us to aid you in this big operation. So, at the end of the day, we are going to be nothing but... cannon fodder," Eric replied to Voyage with a sharp tone.
Voyage nodded his head and replied, "That is right; there is no defending that claim. However, isn't this how a relationship goes—give and take? We are giving you aid, information, resources, and a sense of security. In return, we ask you to help us with our operation. Now, whether you see yourself as helpers or cannon fodder, that is none of my business. You can think what role you play in this as you want." Voyage took his stance.
"So, have you brought anything for me?" Eric asked with a smile. Voyage looked him in the eyes and shook his head. "No, I didn't know what you wanted, so I didn't bring anything. But you can tell me what you want, and we will help you to the best of our abilities," Voyage stated.
"Alright, let me think for a second." Eric leaned back in his chair and started thinking. "The Divine Karma organisation mostly consists of Aura users belonging to the Overseeing, Evil, and Justice Pathways. They must have a lot of relics belonging to these pathways. I can ask for a relic from the Overseeing Pathway for divination purposes. It will greatly reduce the danger I face, but I will have to worry about divination manipulation. But for now, it will be worth it. If I ask for a relic from the Evil Pathway, I will be able to control curse spirits, demons, or just curse someone, but I do not have the uniqueness of the Evil Pathway, as I am not an Aura user belonging to that pathway—it is not a good choice.
The Justice Pathway? I will be able to impose laws and rules on a place or just have a dominating vibe around me, but what is its worth if I can just make plans and defeat others using my own brain? It is settled then." Eric decided which relic he was going to ask for just when the voice inside his mind resounded again. It spoke slowly with its ethereal voice, "Ask for an instance of help when not on Earth."
Eric was internally shocked and shaken after the voice spoke again, but he didn't let his emotions appear on his face and said, "I don't mind making a temporary alliance. However, before we can cooperate on anything, I would like to request two things—one from your organisation and one from you."
Voyage was a little shocked and suspicious about what Eric meant. His brows furrowed a little, but he didn't say anything and asked, "Sure. State your requests."
"I would like to obtain a Rank 5 relic from the Overseeing Pathway from your organisation. I will be very happy if this relic is good at doing divinations with manageable negative effects. Then, I would like to ask for a favour from you—that is, even after the operation has ended in Paris and even if we turn back to being enemies, you will have to help my friends or me once, and only once. What will be the range of the help? It will not be huge—so how about it?"
Voyage fell silent for a while to think. Then he turned back to Eric and nodded his head. "Alright, your requests will be fulfilled. So, should we consider ourselves allies?" Voyage asked.
"Temporary allies sound way better," Eric corrected Voyage and gave his stance at the same time. "Yes, it does. Now, can you tell the second one to come out? I can sense him staring at me with anger," Voyage said while making an expression that he was going to cry.
Eric stayed silent as he looked at the other edge of the sofa, and a dark bubble suddenly appeared. With its appearance, Max's figure was also revealed. He was staring at Voyage with an angry gaze. He was ready to pounce on this baby the moment he got the word.
Voyage looked at Max with a nonchalant face and didn't waver or feel any panic or fear. "So, when would you like to meet?" Voyage turned to Eric and asked. "Whenever you want. Just make sure to have your backer be there to witness our meeting with the trapper on Friday and help us in case of any danger," Eric requested.
"Consider that done," Voyage said as a matter of fact. Then he continued, "Now, shall we exchange contacts?" Eric nodded and looked at Max, and his angry expression became normal.
Voyage waved his hands, and golden liquid seeped out from his hands. Max and Eric did the same, and they all looked up, where they saw thousands of golden strings—some shone while some remained dim. Voyage, Eric, and Max found their own strings and had them touch each other's strings, and it was done. They could now contact each other through telepathy whenever they wanted.
Voyage then bowed and brought out his golden liquid, which blazed into a burst of flames, and he teleported back to the nursery room in the hospital, in his cozy cradle, where he contacted his father and gave his report. However, no answer came from his father. He didn't mind it and yawned cutely like a normal baby and dozed off to sleep.